Leadership Team RogNeedham Posted May 27, 2003 Leadership Team Share Posted May 27, 2003 Put it this way my car seems to take great delight in blowing the gasket for cylinders 2 & 3 and consequently I'm about to blow mine! This problem first happened about 18 months ago. Despite me having fitted approx. 3 myself I had a new flange made and fitted at Caterham Midlands. This seemed to cure the problem until this weekend *mad* Car is a '91 1.7 X/flow Now it sounds more like a b*****d Beetle than anything else *mad* *eek* Anyone have any permanent ideas other than complete replacement of vehicle with R300 😬 😬 Rog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Carmichael Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Burtons do an uprated gasket or you can get them from roger king. You might need the mixture looking at as well because if it is lean it all gets hot on the exhaust side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveP Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 My old xflow did this. It was finally fixed by taking the exhaust off completely and linishing the primaries so that they were completely flat to the head. It was all reassembled without gasket and just a smear of Hermatite exhaust paste on each primary. Work was done by Sebah in Fiskerton (near Nottingham) but I'm sure that there are several places who can do this for you. Never blew again. SteveP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 I gave up with the Burtons ones a couple of years ago as the standard of theirs seemed to have gone downhill and I couldn't get them to last more than a few weeks. Mr Kings are the ones to have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puremalt Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 They all do that sir as someone elso on tech talk says. I wondered when i bought my x/f why there was two sets of exhaust gaskets as a welcome to seven ownership present. Instant gasket, Roger King gaskets and a close eye on the studs every couple of weeks does the trick. Well the engine is a 1950s one isn't it. A paltry 99.9dB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumster Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 The copper gaskets from Roger King are the ones to have. Not cheap but very robust. I keep a spare one in the garage but have never needed. When RK rebuilt my engine in Nov 2000 he fitted a copper gasket and now 15,000 miles later it's as good as new. Chris Alston www.C7CAT.com 1800 Supersprint Drive it like you stole it! 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asklepios Posted May 27, 2003 Share Posted May 27, 2003 Rog, Steve P is correct. Despite RK gaskets being excellent, they will fail unless the exhaust manifold faces are trued up to the head . The backing off and falling out of the bolts of course is a big challenge to the gasket. I drilled and wirelocked the bolts. Do this on fresh ,not heat hardened ,old bolts. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 Steve, I had a similar problem with my central manifold gaskets blowing on a regular basis. Even after trueing up the mating surfaces it still blew. Steve Parker recommended using a much thicker exhaust flange, because the standard caterham one tends to bow as it heats up, because there is no provision or space to have a central bolt to pull it down tight between the pipes. I had a Van Deiman supplied X/flow flange fitted to my centre pipes which has a thickness of almost 20mm!, and this has permanently cured the problem. Obviously trying Roger's gaskets first would be the logical/cheaper way to go. But if the problem still persists you could think about the thicker flange fix. The company that did the conversion for me are specialists who do all sorts of racing pipes, including some formula 1 stuff and are near Croydon. I've got the details somewhere if this is of interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team RogNeedham Posted May 28, 2003 Author Leadership Team Share Posted May 28, 2003 Well the consensus certainly seems to start with good old Mr King and his copper gaskets You're right Puremalt I should have a little more patience with the old girl........and with the car!! *eek* The guys at Caterham had a complete new flange made and fitted to the existing pipes. I assume this should have created the perfect match..but I also acknowledge that I should pay a little more attention to the bolts periodically. as ever guys - thanks for your replies, although I do note that not one of you suggested the upgrade route! Cheers Rog *thumbup* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Perry Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 We crossflow owners are dedicated to what we have.............. and tight 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg Posted May 28, 2003 Share Posted May 28, 2003 We should all stick together too 😬 - too many people fitting Ztec's and thinking they are clever (I'd go fireblade personnally) Greg, Q 86 NTM (Green 185BHP XF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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