Head Gasket -- Inexpensive, Easy Fix

If a man speaks in the forest, and there's no woman around to hear
him, is he wrong anyways?

Ken

 

According to my wife...yes!

Prediction: Putz-ney will be locked in a rubber room on Nov. 8 along
with Chuckie Noodles, who is now spamming your precious group with
eBay crap.

 

In my humble experience a gasket in a bottle is a temporary "fix" that
has caused trouble for me. I now avoid such products even though it
seems the easy way out.

I put some "stuff" into the radiator of a 10 year old 510 Datsun I had
in the early 1980s and that "stuff" clogged up the heater core and never
really fixed the other leak. I cannot remember the name of the "stuff".

With that experience in mind I replaced head gaskets on my 1983
Voyager's 2.2 L engines when they had a head gasket leak (or other
problem - like the need for a rebuild due to compression/oil consumption
problems). The last time I replaced a 2.2 l. head gasket I decided to
splurge and spent extra $ to make sure the head was "planed flat". Then
I spent the extra $$ for a Mopar performance head gasket that is thicker
than any other of the Mopar/Victor/ Fel-Pro head gaskets I have used in
the past. So far - so good.

Ken, Canada

 

I've had success with rad "solder" for one very small hole at a time,
but when my 1970 Datsun 510 rad went after only 3 yrs it was better to
just plug two tubes. The 510 performed very well, but it's light weight
was the clue to very thin metal.

Fortunately rads just don't seem to leak like they used to, even after
14 yrs on an '87 daytona, and 11+ yrs on a Concord.

 

Maybe all "stuff" isn't created equal. It has been ~25 years since you
used a similar product. Technology is constantly moving forward.

I'm not saying this is THE way to go. I'm just saying it's an option.
Especially when you have an older, higher mileage vehicle and not a lot
of cash in the wallet. It worked for me and continues to do so. Since
my heater core was leaking anyway, it didn't matter that it clogged.

-- Christian