Making Gaskets?

Anything magical about a store bought "paper" gasket for my Ford Lehamn SP135 raw water pump? Can these be made by little old me using a template and some auto parts store gasket material of about the same thickness which is next to nothing?

I once made one for a quick fix from a brown paper bag. Worked fine.

Firstbase, yes. The method I was taught was to hold the gasket material over the piece you wish to seal and use thepein end of a small ball pein hammer to tap around the edges of the object. You will not damage the edges and you will create an impression of the shape of the gasket that is exact. Kinda like brass rubbings. Then use some sharp scissors to cut it out and hopefully a punch or similar to make sharp holes where the fasteners go. Then use a sealer or no sealer as you choose.

I use thick stock paper and xerox an old one, cut it out, eazy peezy.

Old time fiahing boat engineer told me to use a paper bag, rip a chunk off, place it over the whole impeller opening, place the cover on, push the bolts through and tighten it down.

The impeller will tear off the stuff thats not needed on the inside, you trim off what isnt needed on the outside. Quickest gasket ever. And I have done that several times and it works fine.

One nice feature of buying ready made gaskets is that it's probably made of a very appropriate gasket material. Like what kind of "paper" are you going to use?

Greetings,
Mr. NW. It's been MY experience that the type of "paper" used is in a lot of cases is, immaterial (see what I did there?). Unless the gasket is subjected to corrosive, intense pressure/vacuum or hot environments necessitating a special type of "paper" (or metal) gasket material, pretty well anything will serve quite readily providing the "paper" is of the appropriate thickness (again, ONLY important if a specific clearance is called for).

I keep 2 rolls of automotive gasket material (one thinner and one thicker-of course I can't remember the thicknesses) on board if I have to fabricate a gasket. Haven't had to yet.

As well, I keep a hand paper punch for making the bolt holes. The punch is only 1/4" or so but one can easily "nibble" an acceptable larger round hole. A little bit more controllable than scissors in some cases.



Less than $10 if I recall...

Ordinary paper does the same job....I have used regular xerox paper, thick stock, thin paper bags, heavier paper bags....I would avoid paper that quickly disintegrates in water like paper towels, newspaper, tissue paper, ect....but ain old brown paper bags of reasonable thickness works great...add a little oil and be done with the impeller change.

The trick is to smear them with motor oil so they dont stick and may be a tad more water resistant.

I vaguely remember seeing a spray can of gasket material a while back. Anyone use that?

A set of gasket punches is cheap and makes quick work of holes. And yes, the ball peen hammer can do the job. And pencil and scissors to trace the outside if you want to be neat and clean. Made many many gaskets using the above. Keep a roll of thin gasket paper in shop for these, but like Scott said, any paper will likely do.

If you are making a gasket, cut the bolt holes first as the thin margins of a cut gasket are more likely to deform or tear.
I tend to use Loctite gasket maker a lot now.

About to make some gaskets for my windlass. I've had a roll of gasket paper for years, and each time, years apart, that I look for it I spend ages trying to locate it. Often a house move in between which really screws with storage and memory! Now, last time I used it was on the boat, and after 30 mins I managed to find it. But now I cant find the hole punches..... Checked at home. Searched the boat, cant find 'em but they are on there somewhere because I used them there last year.

Oh well, I'm about to go get a new set of punches for home. Then I'll store the gasket material back on the boat, knowing that if I really need a gasket I will have all I need on the boat.. somewhere. Infrequently used stuff, and maybe just too much stuff altogether is getting to me.

Years ago I was taught the ball pein hammer method as Xbanks mentioned in post #3 we used to "cut" the fastener holes with the hammer too, never had a problem. Each time time you tap out a hole drop a fastener in it so the gasket won't move out of place.

Best hint ever: Go to your local greasy food provider, order 2 all dress hot dogs, keep them in the paper bag for 2 days, then toss them and use the grease impregnated paper bag to make a gasket. This will make the best gasket ever, ok it will smell the fried meat a bit but you cannot have everything

L.

Warning: Just in case... what I wrote above is just totally insane so do not try it.

Thanks. Just seems too easy to DIY to go spend money on them. I would imagine that the thickness is more important on a water pump in that the cover it integral to the impeller working properly. Or so I think? Too thick a gasket would leave a little space for water to get around the impeller which would in theory slow down flow? Also seems like using permatex would do the same if I put it on, let it harden up, and then tighten down. Wouldn't that hold the cover out too far? Maybe I'm over thinking the tolerences....

firstbase said:

Thanks. Just seems too easy to DIY to go spend money on them. I would imagine that the thickness is more important on a water pump in that the cover it integral to the impeller working properly. Or so I think? Too thick a gasket would leave a little space for water to get around the impeller which would in theory slow down flow? Also seems like using permatex would do the same if I put it on, let it harden up, and then tighten down. Wouldn't that hold the cover out too far? Maybe I'm over thinking the tolerences....

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You're probably over thinking it. The gasket thickness is important as it sets the impeller clearance with the front cover. If it is too thick, water can go around the impeller blades and you have less flow. Too thin and you get increased wear on the impellerand inside of the cover. That said, if you go with a brown paper bag, you'll probably never notice a difference.

Try the ball peen hammer trick. It's easy.

If the pump is a Jabsco, the impeller will come with a gasket.

It is a Jabsco and the impeller I ordered online didn't come with a gasket. Was a little surprised at that.

Rubber impeller pumps will frequently require a thick or two gaskets if asked to pump hot coolant thru an engine.

This is a common requirement when sea water cooled blocks are converted to FW cooled.

Lou was on the right track. Every gasket I hammered out in the Navy was coated with grease before installing, makes a better leak proof seal and makes them less likely to have to be scraped off the flanges later on.

firstbase said:

It is a Jabsco and the impeller I ordered online didn't come with a gasket. Was a little surprised at that.

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Maybe I'm wrong, but I know at least most Jabsco impellers come with gaskets. Some impellers are used in more than one pump and come with two or three different gaskets.

One of the things that I found knocking around in the boat when I bought it was a roll of an unidentified material. It had the consistency of very thick paper or a very thin veneer. I had no idea what it was. Now I am thinking it could be some gasket paper.

HiDHo said:

Lou was on the right track. Every gasket I hammered out in the Navy was coated with grease before installing, makes a better leak proof seal and makes them less likely to have to be scraped off the flanges later on.

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I was joking about it but I remember old times my father had a roll of this oily/greasy/call it whatever it is brown paper to make gaskets. Not sure if this is still available anywhere nowadays.

L.

As back in post #4, I have read that motor oil works well with thin paper gaskets.

French fry oil probably works as well, as kong as it isnt water soluable.

French fries should not be that greasy.

dhays said:

One of the things that I found knocking around in the boat when I bought it was a roll of an unidentified material. It had the consistency of very thick paper or a very thin veneer. I had no idea what it was. Now I am thinking it could be some gasket paper.

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And...this is sort of what started me down this road. I found the same roll of "paper". Only it is thicker than the gasket I took off the RW pump. Not 1/8th of even 1/16th thick but definitely thicker. Not sure if I can use it because of that. I ordered 2 "official" gaskets as well as a piece of the thinnest gasket material I could find, .031" I believe?, to compare to a known gasket. Again, I'm pretty ignorant and don't know if 1000's or even 100's of an inch matter. I do know that the latest concensus is that I buy a large pack of McDonalds fries, let them sit and soak the container for a while, eat them, and then use the container for the gasket. Wish that would work as it is the easiest.

Greetings,
Mr. fb. "... McDonalds fries, let them sit and soak the container for a while, eat them, and then use the container for the gasket." Might be the easiest BUT not the best for those arteries. Just sayin'...

One question though, are McDonalds fries grease better than KFC fried chicken grease? We should open a poll on this subject.

L.

Any of the above will probably work fine. Best gasket material I found early on was old charts... but I guess that was before we all went electronic.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. fb. "... McDonalds fries, let them sit and soak the container for a while, eat them, and then use the container for the gasket." Might be the easiest BUT not the best for those arteries. Just sayin'...

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LMAO as they say....we came close to naming our boat "Elizabeth"...

Lou_tribal said:

One question though, are McDonalds fries grease better than KFC fried chicken grease? We should open a poll on this subject.

L.

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Hmmm....I would think that the KFC grease, in my mind a little thicker, would be better on an old boat that may have some scoring on the mating surfaces. Would probably fill in the inconsistencies a little better. PLUS....when the engine room started getting up to temp and that KFC chicken smell made its way up to the salon???? Finger lickin' good...