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46yblock
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I stumbled upon this guide in ebay, provided by member machinedave0 . It englightened me, so am passing it on: One of the biggest mistakes I see my customers make when they come into our automotive machine shop is there use of the rotary gasket removing disc. These are made buy several companies and they claim that they "only remove gasket material". Many well intentioned people use these discs on there die grinders to quickly remove gasket residue from cylinder heads and manifolds. Its quick, easy and brings the sealing surfaces down to bare clean metal, but it also leaves small pits and valleys in the sealing surfaces, especially around edges and corners. Customers have brought me there cylinder heads that have been cleaned with those "safe to use discs" for resurfacing and in some cases I have had to resurface up to .003" more than needed due to the aggressive nature of those discs. In response to some of the complaints of these discs, several years ago the manufacturers of these discs offered a new, less aggressive and safer version of the discs that were not much better than the old ones. Many automotive dealers and shops have created a zero tolerance policy on the use of these gasket discs buy there techs. The problem is even worse for engines that use MLS gaskets (multi layer steel) that require a very smooth surface finish to seal properly. The damage caused buy these discs is easily noticed when resurfacing the head. The first pass on the resurfacing machine will reveal the flat areas and will show all the valleys created buy those gasket discs. The best way to remove gasket material safely is to use a carbide scraper. They are very sharp, machined perfectly flat and safe on aluminum. They are available from most shop supply companies for about 30 bucks. They will remove the gasket residue without removing metal from the sealing surfaces. You will still see the gasket stain but thats all that it is remaining, just a stain left from the old gasket. As an owner of an automotive machine shop my advise is do not use these discs and if you have bring the parts to a machine shop to have the heads resurfaced properly before installing them.
Guide ID: 10000000005686042Guide created: 02/16/08 (updated 01/10/09)
Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

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charliemccraney
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I just carefully remove the gasket with a razor blade.
Lawrenceville, GA
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mctim64
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I am very glad you brought this up. I have been telling My customers for years to throw these things in the craper. I will bring a guy back to the surfacer and show them what is left after a .003" cut and they are amazed to see the rolled edges into the combustion chambers. It's no fun to argue with a guy that has blown a new head gasket that it's his own fault for cleaning the gasket off that way. Also try to explain that the only proper way to fix a block is to pull and disassemble the engine completely so it can be resurfaced after the deck was ruined with one of these things. The guy who sold this process should be strung up! OK, maybe I'm being a little harsh, but it's something I feel strongly about.
God Bless. Tim http://yblockguy.com/
350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor
tim@yblockguy.com Visalia, California Just west of the Sequoias
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mctim64
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Group: Forum Members
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charliemccraney (1/10/2009) I just carefully remove the gasket with a razor blade.That is an excellant way to do it, may take a little time but why get in a hurry. Do it right!
God Bless. Tim http://yblockguy.com/
350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor
tim@yblockguy.com Visalia, California Just west of the Sequoias
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pintoplumber
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I have been telling My customers for years to throw these things in the craper. Tim, don't do that, that just creates a whole 'nuther set of problems.
Dennis in Lititz PA
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46yblock
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 12 Years Ago
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I never used the disk method of gasket removal until my trusted (formerly trusted) mechanic showed me how easy the disk made the task. This last set of heads I removed had been cleaned of material with die grinder, by me. I noted a number of areas on the head's deck surface that the gasket apparently hadnt sealed, and wondered why. Now I know.
Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

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charliemccraney
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I've never used them. Now I may be glad I haven't. However, I wonder how many people read and follow the instructions. It would be interesting to see if the same poor results occur when the instructions are followed exactly. Don't push down on the disc, use a 2 to 5 degree angle, do not continue to abrade once the gasket has been removed, never use coarse discs, etc.
Lawrenceville, GA
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DANIEL TINDER
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Tim,
Your comment re: "rolled combustion chamber edges" got me thinking. I had heard that when grinding/polishing chambers, the sharp edges left from milling should be smoothed to prevent pre-ignition/detonation. Sounds like a delicate compromise is warranted?
Your opinion?
6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA
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46yblock
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 12 Years Ago
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charliemccraney (1/10/2009) I've never used them. Now I may be glad I haven't. However, I wonder how many people read and follow the instructions. It would be interesting to see if the same poor results occur when the instructions are followed exactly. Don't push down on the disc, use a 2 to 5 degree angle, do not continue to abrade once the gasket has been removed, never use coarse discs, etc.Instructions ?
Mike, located in the Siskiyou mountains, Southern, OR 292 powered 1946 Ford 1/2 ton, '62 Mercury Meteor, '55 Country Squire (parting out), '64 Falcon, '54 Ford 600 tractor.

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mctim64
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Group: Forum Members
Last Active: 6 Years Ago
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pintoplumber (1/10/2009) I have been telling My customers for years to throw these things in the craper.
Tim, don't do that, that just creates a whole 'nuther set of problems.Took me a minute, you are a plumber. I get it!
God Bless. Tim http://yblockguy.com/
350ci Y-Block FED "Elwood", 301ci Y-Block Unibody LSR "Jake", 312ci Y-Block '58 F-100, 338ci Y-Block powered Model A Tudor
tim@yblockguy.com Visalia, California Just west of the Sequoias
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