I am in the process of finishing up my Rebuild... when i realized that My front housing still has the old gasket intact. I went to scrape it off and its comming off in little tiny pieces. And it is going to take a month to get it off this way. Has anyone got a good method to remove hard/old/stuck gaskets? A solovent? or anything thats proven useful?

Thx for the tips.

 

USE A HAIRDRYER!!!!!!

After many painful hours scrapping away; I thought "I bet these things losen up when they're warm" and I'll be damned. That sucker came off in no time. You need to keep the hairdryer on one part untill it gets nice and hot. Then slide a razor underneath and it should peal up nice. I do not recommend using a heat gun which may get the aluminum hot enough to warp it.

 

Right on .. just a hair dryer, nothing else right? I will give that a shot tonight. I still have a few old gaskets to remove once I finish this big one.

 

I use a STIFF putty knife, sharpened on a grinding wheel, and tap it under the old gasket with a hammer. Then, I go back over it with my wirebrush/diegrinder rig to get it perfectly clean and smooth.

IF youre removing a gasket from aluminum, be careful, this method can damage the aluminum, and the wirebrush alone is the best way for this.

 

Paint scraper and Hair dryer. Best combo. And do use a wire bush to make sure it's clean. Also, make sure the brush is a SOFT brush. Not too hard so that you don't scratch the alumninumn(sp?) deeply.

 

I used an exacto knife to create a lift that allowed me to peel It off. Surprisingly not that difficult. I guess I was just lucky.

 

I use Permatex Gasket Remover. That stuff is awesome! Turns the gaskets into jelly, just don't get any on rubber hoses.

 

definitely.

Also, coat your new gaskets in silicone grease. You'll never scrape a gasket again (totally decreases the time it takes to do asn R&R).

 

Ha. Im sitting in my garage doing the same exact thing right now. Cept on the intake manifold. Never thought of the hair drier, good idea.

 

Yeah, I bought the stuff when I did the TB mod....I tried just using a putty knife but that gasket is so tough that I was putting knicks in my manifold!!! didn't think to try a hairdryer......