Half way through rebuilding the top-end of your dirtbike’s engine you realise the gasket kit you’ve bought is missing a couple and the old ones are too badly wrecked to reuse. 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.
Step 1: 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: 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: 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: 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: Finish cutting out the shape and you’ll have a one that matches one that would buy! Fit your new gasket to the engine component you have made it for, tighten all the nuts and bolts and kick it over!
