Thread: Inlet Manifold Gasket

You can buy sheets of graphite impregnated paper for making high temperature exhaust gaskets, but that would probably still entail you driving the same 80k to fetch it.

Copper sheet (got an old hot water service lying in a hedge?) works well and can be rejuvenated in a domestic oven if required. Use the ball of a ball pein hammer to indent the copper into any stud holes or galleries to leave an impression to punch/cut around.

Copper will require re-torquing after the engine has run for a short while.

I have used shoe boxes (cardboard) as substitute gaskets for the cooling system. (An old 1957 Plymouth flathead six.)

The trick is not to cut the gasket but rather hammer it. Just a gentle tapping with a ball peen hammer, the round head of a socket ratchet or the back end of a socket set breaker bar along the edges of the manifold will make a perfect gasket. In my case the gasket lasted longer than the water pump.

I think that the manila folder material may be a bit too thin for gasket material. Our cereal and some laundry detergent comes in cardboard boxes that would be suitable for the gasket. The only thing that I would worry about is that the head where the gasket is going to be used is quite a bit warmer than where the cooling system is connected.

If you can find some suitable cardboard, I would recommend soaking it in engine oil prior to fitting it.

Thanks for the help.

Thought I'd drop the sump and have a stickybeak so I now need a sump gasket too so I ordered both the gaskets so I'll end up driving the 80 k's to get them.