I've pulled enought bikes and cars apart to have a healthy respect for gaskets keeping oil (and vacuums) in and dirt out. However, removing older paper and fiber gaskets that have bonded themselves to the metal can be a daunting task, especially when we have soft aluminum parts and steel dowel pins or bolt holes. Yesterday I removed two fiber valve cover gaskets from the aluminum covers by soaking them in carb cleaner, scraping, and more soaking. After the smell of the carb cleaner got to me, (I was doing this outside) I changed to soaking the covers in simple green. Neither was appreciably better at lifting off the gaskets and most was removed by scraping and scrubbing with a scotchbrite pad. This is different than using a gasket compound such as Permatex or RTV. The former will respond to noxious solvents and the latter usually just peels off.
Has anyone tried coating new fiber or paper gaskets with a release agent - perhaps anti-seize - to facilitate removal at a later time? Would this work against the sealing function of a gasket?
Has anyone tried coating new fiber or paper gaskets with a release agent - perhaps anti-seize - to facilitate removal at a later time? Would this work against the sealing function of a gasket?