Loctite vs gaskets

[owain]

Righto, I was chatting to one of the other BSA guys in the garage the other day and he said that he never uses paper gaskets on his B50. The only gasket he uses is the cylinder head gasket, otherwise it's just a thin layer of loctite that he uses in lieu of a paper gasket. He swears by it.

Seeing as I'm going to put my A10 engine back together soon, I was wondering what the consensus here is? Do you use the paper gaskets or do you use loc-tite only? I've been sandwiching the paper gaskets with loctite on my BSA B33 but isn't completely leak free...

[bikerbob]

I make my own paper gaskets and use Loctite MR5922 on the outer case fit the gasket and put a smear of grease on the other side of the gasket this makes it much easier to remove and touch wood they don't leak.

[chaterlea25]

HI Owain
Opinions differ on what and where to use various gaskets and goo's
Take some time to flatten off the mating surfaces of any high spots,
Remove studs and flatten the areas surrounding the stud holes in alloy especially,

If you have not rebored the cylinders then I would not consider not using  base gasket
lowering the cylinder that amount would mean the top rings would clout on any slight wear ridge in the bores
Not using gaskets may lead to clearance problems in some areas, especially plunger  gearbox gear box selector mechanisms

I use gaskets and Hylomar (same as Wurth DP300)

Works for me
John

[Greybeard]

I use gaskets and Hylomar (same as Wurth DP300)

Same here.

[JulianS]

Loctite need to be applied in a very thin bead to prevent it being squeezed inside your engine when things are tightened up. When you see how much is squeezed out when tightening a similar amount will be squeezed inside.

Use too much and it breaks off and can block oilways..............

You need to consider ease of dismantling - trying to break a loctited joint on outer timing cover or primary chaincase can be quite difficult.

My favoured method of applying loctite is to use a syringe with a blunt needle (as used to refil a printer cartridge).

My favoured Loctite is 5966 grey and 5920 copper.

[BSA_54A10]

The purpose of the gasket is to allow two parts to move against each other while maintianing a seal.
I always fit gaskets, Hylomar on one side & wheel bearing grease on the other so it strips off clean.
Using a gasket allows the parts to seal at a lower clamping force.
And a others have mentioned, removing old sealant can take longer than replacing the clutch plates

[duTch]

 Much the same as above, but used silicone grease and 3Bond, and also pay due regard to Chaterlea John's words;

 

Take some time to flatten off the mating surfaces of any high spots,
Remove studs and flatten the areas surrounding the stud holes in alloy especially....
Not using gaskets may lead to clearance problems in some areas, especially plunger  gearbox gear box selector mechanisms

  I used a 1/2" drill bit to slightly countersink the stud holes, in fact my Gutzzi barrel-base studs use an 'O' ring in there....as I think do V-Dubs (?)