TheSamba.com :: View topic

Thu Feb 18, 2016 9:23 pm

Hey all,
I'm cleaning up a 2.1 engine and pulled the plenum/intake manifold and was cleaning them up. What I thought was just crud on the thick plastic gaskets and manifold turned out to be paper gaskets.

I really don't know much about gaskets. Can I just get some generic thin paper gasket material and cut them using the plastic gaskets as a template?

For a more broad question, for this type of paper gasket, should I lightly oil it, use red gasket maker, anything else?

Finally, those thick plastic gaskets are pretty rigid from the factory right? They're not supposed to be rubbery and flexible, right?

Thanks-

Fri Feb 19, 2016 5:40 am

New is always nice and gets you a first rate job in short order. Yes you could cut your own out of gasket paper, but you need to be nice and neat as any gasket material that protrudes into the port opening will disrupt air flow. You could also use a gasket maker, but again you don't want any protruding into the port opening.

Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:21 am

They thick plastic is a spacer, with thin paper gasket laminated onto the sealing surfaces. If the plastic is in good condition and you have removed all the old gasket material, then you could easily use it as a template to cut new gaskets. Good advice to cut precisely and avoid any stick out on the interior. A smear of grease on the paper helps it soften and seal.

Have fun with it.

Fri Feb 19, 2016 11:16 am

Intake Manifold Gasket 2 @ $6.25 $12.50
Shipping: $15.59
Total Charges: $28.09

Ugh, I hate having to wait to buy a bunch of parts in order to justify an order. It's not that much $ but I can't stomach spending more on shipping than the parts themselves.

Thanks both, I'll probably give it a shot myself and just be extremely careful. I am refreshing pretty much everything that's going on this used engine in terms of gaskets, orings, sensors, etc. and certainly appreciate replacing unknowns with new sensibility.