head gasket question??

[yz2stroke]

hey i recently put new piston and rings in my 400 and the timing chain fell back down and had to take the head off again.my question is can u reuse the head and base gasket.they were only bolted down never started. please get back to me thanks

[killer454]

me myself i would not,why didnt you remove the clutch cover and try to push it back up with some steel wire.i would have tryed this before taking the whole top end apart.

[yz2stroke]

the gasket still looks new no tears or rips or anything.i was litterly on there for like an hour.and i didnt think of doing that at first.maybe i should have

[killer454]

well go ahead and try putting it on if it leaks you can allways go buy a new one.just make sure it is ok after you install it.you dont want it to lean out real bad.

KEEP A CLOSE EYE ON IT FOR A FEW RIDES

[bherriman]

In my opinion you should never re-use a head gasket after it has been torqued down, whether it was ran or not.

[Honda#4]

The head gasket you may get away with using again but I would buy a new base gasket, even if oil got on it I wouldn't even consider using it. It doesn't take much for alittle squirt of oil to come out of the base gasket. It happened to me on a fresh rebuild but I put some of that silicone crap on the base and thats why it failed for me needless to say I learned my lesson.

[yz2stroke]

thanks guys went and just bought a new one.

[togup]

next time fish it out with a stiff wire

[CJM]

Tip:

I always use a piece of stiff electrical wire to tie it to the mount on the frame for the middle bolt on the valve cover. This ensures it wont fall down and it makes a nice loop as well when I remove it from the frame.