[Anton 280z]

I putting my engine back together and have some questions. Is there any sort of rule for picking different gaskets? I know cork is good to go on almost everything except fuel. I'm not sure how it handles heat thought. Also, I pulled the TBI and there was some sort of hard rubber (?) gasket. I was wondering if I can replace it with cork or what it is made out of so I can get the right material.

Thanks!
Ant

 

[bujo22]

The throtle body gasket is made out of rubber although it is not hard ruber when you buy a new gasket. It gets hard over time to to heating up and cooling off. When they get that way you need to replace them. Or you could form a vacume leak between the throttle body and the intake manifold.I prefer rubber gaskets for the top end of the engine Example valve cover. The intake uses sometimes a metal gasket or a polythylene with metal inserts around the ports. The head gasketyou have a couple of choices to use anything from copper for high performance engines to regular felpro gaskets which work great for most cars. Felpro will work great unless you are planing to turbo or nitrous your engine.I would use cork on the oilpan. and on the water pump cork works good but always use some kind of other sealant on your water pump. And always get high temp sealant It always better to have to high temp than to low. Hope this helps
Dean Maxey

 

[GrahamBCZ]

Some tips....

If you use a cork gasket don't use anything with it like sealer or glue or silicone. Just make sure the surfaces are dry and clean and don't over tighten them. For the valve cover what I do is glue the gasket to the cover with contact cement. Then when you install it put a very thin layer of silicone on the gasket and put it on. Whenever you remove it you can rub the silicone off the gasket and reuse it again. Never leaks either. Any thin paper style gasket I usually spray both sides with "hi tach" or paint with permatex aviation goop. Cork usually won't do well in a high heat area.