Morris Minor Owners Club

folks, if i buy a head gasket, what type? have i heard payen are good?

Yes, that's the one to get.

ok, what type of payen gasket i see a couple of types on ebay...its for a 1275...

copper is more expensive, not a problem, but need to know before i buy...

The Payen thing is overstated - just buy a head gasket and install it carefully would be my view. Why do you need a head gasket ?

callyspoy wrote:ok, what type of payen gasket i see a couple of types on ebay...its for a 1275...

I'm not sure what the difference is between the types. The ones I have used had a copper face. The Payen gaskets are noticeably better made than the other one my usual supplier also sells.

I must be unlucky, I bought a payen one; believing all the spin, it's got a mark in the copper and a dirty great sweaty thumb print on it.
It's in a sealed package and staying there.

payen are normally good quality. But most other brands are fine.

My extra piece of advice would be that if any of the head studs wind out when doing it make sure the holes are empty before trying to put them back in and make sure you wind them in all the way.

I have seen many a good amateur mechanic with damaged head stud threads due to torqueing up heads without checking that the studs where in far enough.

There are of course many other things to be carefull of but I just wanted to mention that one because it rarely gets mentioned.

Good point about the studs. Best option is to remove them all, clean out the threads and lightly countersink each hole on the block face - then re-install the studs ensuring each one is screwed right home !

Haha, not funny I know. But I just counted the blown gaskets on the back of my garage door. 8. Am now concentrating on my engine rebuild.

I just counted the blown gaskets on the back of my garage door. 8.

Yes you never know when they might come in handy.

Has it blown again Ian - or are you just anticipating ?

You are probably all discussing A Series gaskets which are easy to find. However if you are looking for Series MM side valve head gaskets they seem to be in short supply and there is a lot of rubbish around. The 1st thing is not to buy a Morris 8 gasket by mistake, these have the water passages around the distributor drive in a different position.
A good head gasket should be sealed all around the outside, around the combustion chambers and also around the water passages, there are no oil passages in a side valve head. It should also drop cleanly over the head studs.
I was supplied with a head gasket which was only sealed around combustion chambers and needed working down the head studs a bit at a time with a long socket. The result was that it leaked water and had to be changed for a good quality gasket which performed as it should.

Yes Roy it went again at weekend

Oh dear -definitely swap engines then!