Custom made exhaust gaskets? *unique exhaust*
 

I recently received a unique exhaust that has a need for a special gasket (think of a figure 8 gasket) but upon receiving the exhaust...the gasket was not there!

So now I have to find a way to seal the exhaust properly, my question is:


1) Can exhaust gaskets be custom made easily & locally?
2) Can anyone tell me what is a good material to use for such a gasket?
3) About how much do you think it would cost? (only 1 gasket is needed to be made)

The exhaust was made in Japan and seems to be discontinued, it would be nice if I could avoid ordering a discontinued part from overseas :)

Cut it out of sheet copper.
It'll cost you all of $20.

yeah I remember some people using copper gaskets, guess that would be a good alternative.

Any other options?
Just so I can have as many doors open as possible :)

Look up "gaskets" in the yellow pages.

Many auto parts stores sell gasket material, Check all your local auto parts stores, or call them, I'd go in and check tho it seems as now days many people who work in these stores can't even do an oil change, much less have any idea what to look for for gasket material. Copper will work quite nice, but remember to re-tighted the bolts after the copper has warmed up to make the seal better

you will be suprised but you might actually find your gasket in canadian Tire..

Are there any other "scrap" materials that gaskets (esp. exhaust gaskets) can be made from?

Say... old tires? Just a thought, don't flame me to hard...

An exhaust gasket made from old tire? That would most likely melt.

hadn't thought of that.

Are there any other scrap-ish materials that can be used to make gaskets?

go out buy a 1'x1' piece of 1/8inch asbestos, and then two copper plates of eaqual size however 1/10 of inch and then press the two together. that is what I have seen done several times.
(you must use appropriate safety precautions to work with asbestos.

lol and i was playing swords using heatshields as armor :P

Would that seal an exhaust that leaks because of a warped flange? The normal gaskets usually last for 2 days then they blow, would copper be an alternative?

I used a piston engine's sheet of head gasket to cut out some exhaust gaskets for my car. So far they have held up for a while.

I can't remember what it cost me but it was pretty cheap and you'll have enough material for like 20 gaskets!

If the flange it badely warped you might not be able to seal it with any type of gasket, but a cheap thing to do is take it to your local machine shop and have them make the end of the flange flat again, then just use the stock gasket. But if you need to make just as good as stock gasket but larger or something then this method is pretty much just as good.

care to elaborate on that comment, I am not certain if that was meant as a joke or if you dont' really believe that it works.
In either case it does work, what do you think that the stock gaskets are made out of?
It is tempered aluminium instead of copper. But since copper is cheaper and just as usable and easily obtained it is a perfect alternative. Trust me it works. do you think that people that have diesels that make 4.5" exhausts can buy flange gaskets?... NO they can't so they make them, this is what they use and it works well! It lasts a very long time if done properly (it doens't take much to do it properly)

Just out of curiousty..... Can't you just use the stock gasket for block to header end? I mean it would use the same bolt patten and would be around the same size. Just wondering.. Also have to spoke to any exhast shops yet? good luck on your gasket hunt!

if all else fails get some hi-temp RTV (red stuff), but if you're warped (the flange, I mean) it might not work...we use the stuff on aircraft bleed systems all the time (700C and LOTS of pressure)

I have no doubt that it does work. Just I literaly used heatshields as amor one time when I was working in the shop. you'ld hit it and all that abestos crap would fly out :P

My buddy makes copper exhaust gaskets, he can either make one for you or tell you what you need to do.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=253568

Re: Custom made exhaust gaskets? *unique exhaust*
 

Just out of curiousity what kind of exhaust is it..and can we see pics of it

not exactly on topic, but as a reply to someones comment up there somewhere...usually if you avoid the discount aouto parts places, the people are fairly knowledgeable. Like NAPA, or any personally owned place. its those big chains that have such a turnover and dumbasses workign for em.

on-topic, copper is the way to go.

lemme see if I can answer all the questions:

-I can not use the engine-header flange because of its size
-The exhaust is a Knight Sports exhaust where the downpipe is the y-pipe (splits into 2 at the downpipe) and it is at this split that it requires the "Figure 8" gasket. It is not like the normal y-pipes where you use 2 separate gaskets, it requires 1 gasket in the shape of an "8" turned sideways (or the "efini" symbol if you're familiar with that)

I think I'll have to go custom made but it sounds like it CAN be done. Thank you for the resources & links everyone!

I have had lots of experience with replacing exhaust gaskets with my vert. It had always had leaks. I had removed the exhaust and put it back together a few times trying to get it sealed up, but after getting it back together I always ended up with small leaks that eventually turned into big leaks. It is unbelievable how much extra noise even the tiniest leak will produce on a rotary exhaust. I had warped flanges, could never get it to seal up tight, and tried every gasket under the sun to get it sealed. I ended up using a flat file to level out the flanges....probably not as good as a machine shop could do of course, but it helped. I bought the standard "generic" gaskets from the auto parts stores, and they never held up. They just disinegrated from the excess exhaust heat that a rotary generates. I ended up buying some gaskets from Racing Beat, and I was quite impressed with them. They are super thick, very sturdy feeling, and seemed to "crush" a little better in between the flanges than the cheapo auto parts store gaskets. Even with the good gaskets, I still had a couple of tiny leaks.

OK......the following is totally ghetto, but I finally got things sealed up. I ended up buying this liquid metal stuff at the auto parts store. It is in the area where they sell all of the glues and expoxies. It's intended use is to repair cracked cast iron (like an exhaust manifold) and is designed to hold up to heat as high as 2000 degrees (...yeah right). I ended up slathering that stuff all over both sides of the nice thick Racing Beat gasket, bolted the flanges together, then smeared the stuff all around the flange connection. It has kind of a thick sandy feel to it, almost like wet concrete, so it was easy to "form" around the flange. I let it sit for about a half hour and then started the car. It supposedly cures/hardens with the heat. The stuff worked great!! I now have NO leaks whatsoever and this was done a couple thousand miles ago....still holding up fine.

HAHA, that's cool....but hopefully, you'll never have to remove the exhaust for anything.

I've had it apart once since using that stuff and it doesn't "lock" the flanges together. They came apart easy enough. I just had to use my dremel tool with the wire wheel to clean all of that stuff off of the flanges and use a new gasket......which I also smeared up with that stuff.