Head gaskets from Rimmers

[mole42]

Do we know where Rimmers head gaskets are made? Do we know if they're okay? I just bought one of their special offer head gasket sets.

My last head gaskets were apparently proper ones from SOC, and fearsomely expensive, but seem to have a failure after 30,000 miles. I'll be squirting air down the plug holes in a day or two to see where the leak shows up.

Richard

[DJT]

The best ones are made by BGA to virtually the same spec as Payen. They were produced with the help of Abinger Hammer ISTR.

http://www.ldparts.co.uk/shop/shop.php?c=viewproduct&pid=742&cat=22&maincat=1&start=12&sid=sid8b19953e85f4ac27a56860d6260ea912

http://www.ldparts.co.uk/shop/shop.php?c=viewproduct&pid=1229&cat=22&maincat=1&start=12&sid=sid8b19953e85f4ac27a56860d6260ea912

[richardthestag]

^ like

[mole42]

The best ones are made by BGA to virtually the same spec as Payen. They were produced with the help of Abinger Hammer ISTR

They are the ones I used last time.

[flying farmer]

The only concern I have with the Rimmers gaskets is the lack of sealing material between the fire ring and the waterway at the rear of the head gasket.

Look at the pictures of the BGA ones in the link above, and the picture on Rimmers website and the difference can be seen.

Whether this actually makes a difference I don't know, but this is exactly where both head gaskets had failed on the first engine I built for the TR so I am wary of this area even though the gaskets lasted for 70,000 miles.
It is a good 10 years since the head gaskets failed and I can't remember what they looked like, but they were definitely not Payen gaskets.

Payen gaskets are what I used for all subsequent engine rebuilds until my Payen supply ran out and I used BGA gaskets on the last engine I built, but non of my other engines have clocked up anywhere near the 70,000 miles that the first engine did.
Neil

[richardthestag]

this bit is what we* are concerned about

head gasket issue.jpeg

gasket material squeezes out from between the fire ring and blow the gasket.

then erodes the block/head and repeat ... 2 .... 3 .... 4

etc

[flying farmer]

Since you used the BGA gaskets last time and the gasket failed relatively quickly I would definitely suspect the block since the heads were ok.

Since you are doing a lot of miles in the car and do not want to lose the Summer it is probably worth fitting the cheap gasket set to get you back on the road.

If the block does show any warping then commit to a complete strip down and rebuild this winter and possibly renew rings and bearings if required. You might be lucky and find nothing is needed apart from a skim and a new gasket set.

Neil

[mole42]

After I re-torqued the heads last week, a 100-mile trip today tells me one of them is still leaking. No problem with engine power but temps were hovering a bit above N and there’s almost a litre of coolant loss.

After the local SOC group meeting on Wednesday the heads are coming off the day after, then we’ll see what’s happened. I am praying the block’s flat… I have meeting on July 25th that involves a 400-mile round trip and it would be good to get there!

Richard

[Goldstar]

2 quick points if I may. The BGA gaskets were a SOCTFL funded project with AH as the commercial partner and if you bought those products (std thickness) they are relatively cheap for such a quality product £33.60 from LD Parts minus your club member discount. When did you buy the last ones Richard?

[mole42]

I'll have a look in the invoice file later, but it was probably about 3 years ago, I think the mileage was about 85,000 then, and it's now about 18,000 so that would be about right.

Richard

[mole42]

this bit is what we* are concerned about

head gasket issue.jpeg

gasket material squeezes out from between the fire ring and blow the gasket.

then erodes the block/head and repeat ... 2 .... 3 .... 4

etc

The ones I have received aren't quite as bad as that photo but they are not as good as the BGA ones..... I'll see what state the old BGAs are in when I get the heads off on Thursday, and see where one failed.

[mole42]

When did you buy the last ones Richard?

They were bought in January 2016 from Abinger Hammer Motors but I haven’t found the invoice yet. ISTR they were about £75 for the pair.