A better exhaust gasket

[Chainlube]

I blew the exhaust gasket yesterday on my daily, so I made anew one from a bulk sheet that I use for kart motors. Took the crappy fiber one out of a kit and traced it on the sheet. Then I drilled the holes and cut it out with tin snips, resized the holes to match the head with a high speed rotary tool and BAM! back in business.

 

[Frogslayer]

Nice work. Probably not quite as easy as grabbing a spare out of the drawer that was ordered earlier for cheap. Nice and fast none the less.

 

[Chainlube]

Thanks guys, I never was an order a gasket kinda guy. I have lots of gasket material. Just no copper sheets, I thought I had one but can't seem to find it now.

 

[Wrench]

Smart you are to use good quality gasket material.
Make a few while your at it. You'll always have an extra one ready.
The last thing I want to do when working on my motorbike is to stop and make a gasket.

 

[Frogslayer]

I do keep a couple rolls of gasket material of different thicknesses around just in case. I bought a set of 5 head and jug gaskets, and another complete set with all the gaskets. So far I've only gone through one exhaust gasket. The support bracket broke and it started loosening up.

 

[Chainlube]

It's funny you guys say that, because just before I went to bed (work nights) I made an extra gasket. Of course that material comes in a sheet instead of a roll.

 

[Frogslayer]

The cheap roll gasket material that i currently have does suck. I should unroll it between 2 boards for a while or something. But i don't really want to compress it..

 

[BlindAngel]

Use a heat gun or blow-dryer to warm it up and then put a book ontop of it until it cools

 

[Wrench]

It's funny you guys say that, because just before I went to bed (work nights) I made an extra gasket. Of course that material comes in a sheet instead of a roll.

Where would a guy buy a sheet like that Got a link?

I've been using Mr. Gasket Ultra Seal 1/16" Exhaust Gasket sheet - Graphite with a steel mesh center.
A 10" x 10" sheet for $12.99 made me 20 gaskets for my Whizzer Motorbike.
That was over 10 years ago and I've given a few gaskets away to friends over the years. Today the gasket sheet costs $14.99
I just checked I only have 2 exhaust gaskets left. I think its time to make another 10 years supply of exhaust gaskets.
Any info on what you used would be helpful I would like to compare Exhaust Gasket Materials before I buy another sheet of Mr Gasket.

 

[Chainlube]

Maybe NAPA, can't remember, I've had it for a while. Try a FLAPS, this might help.