Topic: Gasket SERIOUSLY stuck

[grepper]

I've always had good luck with paint remover.  That gel stuff, like aircraft remover.  Softens then up, scrape and repeat.

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[jonclegg]

I had the same issue. I just took my head to a shop that did plastic and glass blasting. It also has the side effect of making the part look brand new.

Try to find a vintage shop in town, in Austin there are quite a few. I had Chris do it over at Limey bikes, they are wonderfully helpful and do great work.

[23tbucket]

Yep...some of them gasket remnants can be nasty to remove. This is the best way I have found: Sitting down with the head or block right in front on a table with good overhead lighting. Block all the passages with rags. I use small wood carving tools that have about a 1/2" wide end. If the wood tool is new and sharp..the end should be "rolled" a bit to limit gouging. It still is time consuming, but with these type of wood carving tools you can keep both hands on the tool, giving a nice controlled removal of the old gasket. A lot of times you can get the tool started under the remnants and it will peel away. Removing old gasket around studs and dowels is the worst. Sometimes just easier to remove them. Patience, patience, patience.......

About six inches overall length:

[bikerbart]

yup. Paint remover / stripper gel, brushed on with throw away brush. Elbow grease. There is no easy way.

[flybox1]

yup. Paint remover / stripper gel, brushed on with throw away brush. Elbow grease. There is no easy way.

+1 and let it soak overnight to soften it.
A razor blade held 90deg to the surface wont get under it. 
Hold it a low angle, 10-15deg, and slice it off, like a cheese-slicer would.
Use fresh blades often to prevent gouging, work in small areas, go slow.
Then go at it with acetone and a scotchbrite pad.
It wont be fast, or easy.

[jamesbekman]

Ugh just did this on a left side crankcase gasket and stator gasket on a cb350 twin.  Found out way late in the game acetone does help a little...  You can use a dull flat head screwdriver... or a razorblade etc and be careful...  It sucks...  But what you have going for yourself is that the engine is completely dissasembled and you do not have to worry about getting any gasket material in the engine.

[mcswny]

I feel like at this point, all the great ideas/opinions in here should get compiled into a FAQ? Couldn't hurt, Yes/no?

[bikerbart]

with my valve cover I set it in a puddle of acetone for 15 min, turned it over and it scraped right off easy. You could do that with the head too.

[dave500]

they can be buggers to get off,just don't forget if its a genuine old gasket or really old it most likely contains asbestos,thats why its hard to remove,so wear a dust mask if using power tools that generate dry dust!

[tlbranth]

I use a gasket scraper which I bought many years ago. It's a cheap thing but I spent some time flattening the back and sharpening the bevel on an oilstone. If you use one of these, bevel down, with the bevel parallel to the surface, it cannot dig into the aluminum. For softening, I use lacquer thinner. Gotta say, though, I've run into some gaskets that were an absolute buggar to get off. I would never use an abrasive on a gasket surface.