copper head gasket

Post by **grainger** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 2:43 pm

hi

i was given a copper head gasket kit with the traveller when i bought it last year. everyone tells me the gasket should say TOP and FRONT on it but it doesnt. its made of 3 layers of metal, one of which is copper, am i right in thinking the copper side should be uppermost ? ie in contact with the cylinder head ?

cheers
grainger

Post by **Willie** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 5:44 pm

Many of the head gaskets are not marked top or front and if you
examine them carefully you will see that they can be fitted either
way up. I do not know which way the single layer of copper
should be facing but what you must remember, if there is copper
in the gasket, is that you must retighten the head nuts after a
few hundred miles.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Sun Aug 08, 2004 11:32 pm

Normally the copper side is uppermost, however on the next rebuild that means it comes clean off the head and has to be scraped off the block (scraping off the head is easier

)

Post by **brixtonmorris** » Mon Aug 09, 2004 1:24 pm

i think the copper is on the top to dissipate the heat away from the clyinder head, the hottest part . copper is a good conductor of heat