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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - quality head gasket 1275

Ive recently experienced two head gasket failures, gaskets sourced from Moss and A H Spares. Failures occurred (1) to a water gallery at the front of the engine and (2) between cylinders 2 and 3.
Both the block and head have been checked for flatness and are within tollerance apparently. The head was torqed down to 45 lb/ft in the correct sequence.
I dont recall having any issues with head gaskets in the day on my Mini Coopers, even after head skimming and other servicing activities, which leads me to question the quality of the head gaskets available today.
So, i'm checking on others experiences. I'm looking for advice on gasket sources of proven quality.
R C Skerritt

Payen BK450
The only good 1275 HG
It is the Black payen one, NOT the copper one.

If the block and head are flat and you keep having trouble use the minispares competition head stud set.
Affordable and great quality
O K

Another vote for Payen from me.....
Oggers

And another vote from me. I tried two, both of which leaked - one badly, one with minor weeping, before settling on the Payen BK450 with perfect results.

Peter Blockley

Thanks Chaps
Payen BK450 then.

Heres a piccy of the fault in the last one

R C Skerritt

And another

R C Skerritt

Some other items to consider:
1. Flatness of both the head and block. If the head is out .002" and the block (in the same place) is out .002" in the opposite direction you will have a cumulative .004" gap.
2. Re-torqueing is a pain but is it really as bad as doing the entire job over again. The late, great coach John Wooden may have said it best: “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”
3. When installing & torquing the fasteners, if the threads are dry, the underside of the bolt heads or nuts are dry and the underside of the washers are dry the readings will be inaccurate & inconsistent. The threads must be clean & smooth and everything needs to be lubricated. Assembled dry your 45 ft-lbs is probably less than 40 and will vary more between fasteners.

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth!
s1

This thread was discussed between 11/03/2017 and 12/03/2017

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