Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,

I have changed the head gasket on my 1952 side valve but there is water leaking from the one edge.

I have asked around and the general consensus appears to be that I have the incorrect washers fitted. I am told that I need much thinker hardened steel washers but I have been unable to find any.

Please can anyone help?

Thanks,

Karl.

What make of head gasket have you fitted? there are some crXp gaskets around.
What torque setting did you use?
Did you re torque the head nuts?
The washers are M10, you should be able to get them in a hardware store. How about using two washers?

Hi Mike,

Its a Qualcast head and I bought the head gasket from Gaskets for Classics. It looked like a nice one with crimped edges etc

I had the head skimmed because it was leaking water after the first time but the issue is still there.

44 lbs of torque and re torqued a few times but its like the nuts are coming loose as I appear to be able to re torque and it tightens every time.

I cant seem to find any hardend steel washers, only normal steel and stainless steel and Ive tried both.

Good gasket, you did everything I would do, how much is it leaking, can you ignore it and maybe it will go away?
I am using a second hand gasket - no leaks

Karl
I went through problems when fitting the head to my rebuilt engine. Initially I used ordinary washers but these actually dished after running the engine so I abandoned them and just used the nuts. At the time I seem to remember hearing that BMW use hardened washers, but cannot confirm this.
About the leak, make absolutely sure that there is not a crack in the head. The later head I was using has a crack across one front corner so I replaced it with an early head which came with the car, and this one might have a crack as well. Anyway we put this one on and so far it appears OK. I retorqued after just a few miles, and got up to half a turn on the nuts.
I also appear to not have any water leaks at last!
best of luck
Colin

Hi, thanks guys. Its been going on all summer really and does seem to leak quite a bit even when the car is left overnight... I wake up to a little puddle the next day?

I checked the head and the block and cant see any imperfections at all so the issue must be to do with something else.

I will try BMW though to see if they actually sell hardend washers... if so I will give them a try.

Many Thanks,

Karl.

If you can not reach the required torque be careful as I had a problem with the studs pulling out of the block. I had to heli-coil two studs ( luckily they are metric thread ) and a previous owner had a stud made with a larger thread that screws into the block
regards Ian

some people are telling, do it without washers, any experience?
Mine are all gone, and another engine in my barn, did not had washers when I bought this one...

On my engine they appear to be ordinary washers but the nuts are not all the same so at some stage nuts have been lost/changed

Hi,

I've looked at the studs and they are looked fine. I can get it to torque up nice 44lb etc but after the car warms up and runs for a bit the nuts can be re torqued... It looks like they have become loose.

I've not seen a mm head without washer before?

Karl
I spoke too soon on the last note, my problem is still not cracked.
I have carefully measured the stud heights and thread lengths etc and have decided that washers are necessary.
Without them there is a risk of the nuts bottoming on the thread and not onto the head.
Through hardened washers are available from PUGH & SANDERS, google it! They are prepared to send you a small quantity, I bought x28 to give me a spare set, and the invoice was still less than £10. These washers are 1.7mm thick.
I have also made sure all the studs are bottoming, having cleaned the holes with borrowed taps M10x1.5
Also I note that the workshop manual says " after assembly run the engine until hot and then re-torque the nuts"
Grease the stud threads and tops of washers before assembly, this helps the torque wrench read correctly.
I now have all studs inserted and measured and am happy that they will bottom onto the head. Fingers crossed!!
Colin

Grease the stud threads and tops of washers before assembly, this helps the torque wrench read correctly.

I wouldn't worry about it but I think the torque figures are for dry threads.