Head and engine block gasket surface

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rjkoop
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Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Head and engine block gasket surface

Post by rjkoop »

How clean does the gasket surface between the head and engine block have to be? Gasket came off pretty clean and I've used cleaners and a razor blade to carefully clean off all remaining gasket. It's definitely smooth to the touch, the head is pretty much back to the original surface but the engine block isn't 100%. Still some discoloration but very smooth. Should I use wet/dry sandpaper (200+ grit) or something else to finish the job or is it good enough?
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seabeelt
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Your car is a: Fiat Spider - 1971 BS1
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Re: Head and engine block gasket surface

Post by seabeelt »

400 - 600 grit on a piece of glass
R/
Michael and Deborah Williamson
1971 Spider -Tropie’ - w screaming IDFs
1971 Spider - Vesper -scrapped
1979 Spider - Seraphina - our son's car now sold
1972 Spider - Tortellini- our son's current
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rjkoop
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Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:45 am
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat Spider
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Re: Head and engine block gasket surface

Post by rjkoop »

seabeelt wrote:400 - 600 grit on a piece of glass
R/
Ended up using 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a smaller ceramic tile (didn't have any glass available). Was really careful to keep it flat and now it looks really clean. Just waiting for head studs/nuts and then the head goes back on.
htchevyii
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Re: Head and engine block gasket surface

Post by htchevyii »

I usually use a sanding block, some use a wetstone. Under no circumstances use the gasket removal discs on a die grinder, they are OK for valve covers or similar, but not for anything that must be perfectly flat.
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1982 SPIDER 2000, 1964 CHEVYII, 1969 Chevy Nova, 2005 DODGE RAM, 1988 Jeep Comanche
1972 Spider, 78 Spider rat racer 57 f-100,
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