I was reading a few threads on another site about this gasket issue and I was wondering if you ever reused a head gasket or any other sensitive gaskets. I just want to know from people who actually tried to do it, doesn't matter if it worked, failed, whatever.

If you done it tell me the results, what type of gasket it was, why you thought you could do it without incident, the type of vehicle, and how long it lasted.

 

When rebuilding a 454 one time, I pulled one head back off and reused gasket. Been about 15 years ago. Don't remember brand, but engine had not been cranked. Sold truck 50,000 miles later.......never had a problem with it. If I had run it, I would have replaced gasket.


Begs the question - Why do you ask?

 

Yes I have had to do it.

Why? Emergency service call out on the lake for a houseboat. Did it work? Yep for a summer, motor 3.0L Volvo I/O, gasket type was stock Volvo marine. Being out on the lake no proper prep work was done other than a good scraping of the surfaces. Did I think it would work nope but had no other choice in the matter.

 

some people were arguin about it on some other forums nd they kept saying it was fine because they torqued it down but had not fired it up then other people said the torque was the same thing as molding it and I didn't understand why they didn't have leaks yet some people did have leaks and then some people said their new gaskets leaked as bad as their old ones. These random results got me wondering about what was going on down there and how.

 

I think it is a good practice to replace head gaskets once they have been torqued down, but sometimes, we do what has to be done. Seems like that happened on my 302 in my Mustang when I was rebuilding it, but, same as gdstock, it hadnt been turned over. I also would have replaced it if I had started the engine with it on.

 

Torquing down the head compresses the gasket. Taking the head back off, the gasket does NOT return to it's original thickness. Re-using them isn't really a good idea, whether the engine has been fired or not. Some folks have luck with it, others, not so much so. If you don't have a choice, re-use it. If you do, replace it.

 

I have to agree. It is NOT a good practice for the reasons stated. I was nervous about this gasket, but had no place to get another - weekend - at night - small town. I did increase the torque slightly over spec when bolting head back down. Would I do it now - no. Too many vehicles to drive so not having one back together would not have an adverse impact on me.

 

Well I was trying to just get input from people who actually done it to hear their stories not from people hadn't done it but didn't believe in it.

 

Ok then, I actually did do it also on a 302 mustang. The results were not good. This was 20 or 25 years ago. And I'll never do it again with ANY gasket. Simply not worth the risk.

 

The major reason I DON'T do it is because I have been doing this kind of work since I was 15. (back when dinosaurs walked the earth.) I read, and learned from some great folks. I have SEEN the bad results from re-using gaskets that it specifically states on the packaging NOT to re-use them. If you want to learn this one the hard way, that is your choice, you might get lucky, but, I wouldn't bet real heavily on that.