HOW TO MAKE AN EMERGENCY GASKET
Cost: $15.00
Time: 20 minutes
Tools: Gasket material, Stanley knife, oil, drill bit
Difficulty: 3
TROUBLE
Half way through rebuilding the top-end of your dirtbike’s engine you realise the gasket kit you’ve bought is missing a gasket or two, and the old ones are too badly wrecked to reuse.
TRICK
If you’re in a hurry to hit the track and you don’t have time to source the correct gasket, you can make your own in as little as five minutes using a sheet of gasket paper. In this case, we have used the powervale cover on a Husaberg TE 300. This is not a difficult job but don’t rush it.
WHAT TO DO:
Step 1. Remove the old gasket
Remove the old gasket from the cover and clean the excess material that is stuck around the edge of the cover with a Scotch-Brite cleaning pad and some petrol. Both surfaces have to be clean for the gasket to seal properly.
Step 2. Making the outline
To make it easier for yourself to accurately cut out the shape of the gasket, coat the edge of the cover with a thin layer of oil and then press it onto the sheet of gasket material. Lift the cover off and you should have a perfect outline.
Step 3. Make a hole where the screw will go
Using a sharp Stanley Knife, poke the a hole through where the screw will go that securer the cover. Then grab a drill bit of that same size as the bolts and with your hand gently turn it until it comes out the other side.
Step 4. Cutting the shape
Once you have made all the holes for the screws, take a sharp Stanley Knife and begin cutting out the shape of the gasket. Leave a millimetre each side of the oil marking, it’s better for it to be slightly too bit than too small.
Step 5. Finishing
Finish cutting out the shape and you’ll have a gasket that matches one that would would buy! Fit your new gasket to the engine component you have made it for, tighten all the nuts and bolts and kicker ‘er over!
TIP
Be gentle handling the gasket as the oil can make it tear easily.
