mentorman

My Feedback: (2)

I hear many fellow modellers having air leaks even after sealing up the engine, I beleive its being used incorrectly. When I do mine, I apply the RTV to the back plate, carb base, whatever and then let it Set up some ( skin over ) then assemble the parts. Too many people are not doing this and the RTV will not form a gasket thick enough to be effective. Dont just put it all together immediately after its applied, hope this helps. JMHO>

gasdriverca

Good to know that,I would probably stick it all together right away......thanks mentorman.

JB COMP

I disagree. nothing personal, mentorman. Ok

gt5500

Well i can't see why you would need to do this, RTV is automotive sealant and when we use it to seal car parts we never let it set up first. The idea of a sealent is not to form a thick layer, it is to get into all the imperfections in the mating surfaces and smooth them out, thicker is normally worse. Lots of people seal sumps on their cars with too much RTV and funnily enough they leak like crazy.

Anthoop

Yes,don't think you need to allow curing time before mating surfaces with RTV.Apply a thin/even bead then tighten.

lsurber

Personally, it depends on the application as to whether I allow a cure. On the race engines I generally apply a thin film on both sides of intake manifold gaskets and allow a forced full cure under heat lamps(takes less time). Once cured I apply another thin film for final assembly but do not allow a full cure this time. When sealing the intake manifold valley I do not allow a cure! I set the manifold on and hand snug the bolts, allow a full cure over night, and 3 step torque......DONE! On fuel pumps, water pumps, and most everything else I generally try to allow a thin film to fully cure then apply another layer, set part, and torque.


Many will disagree but once you witness an intake manifold gasket peel off so you can reuse it you'll be convinced otherwise. My engines NEVER leak oil,,,, first time,,,,,, every time!!!!!!!!!

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

If I can add one more thing, it's to make sure that the surfaces are as clean as you can get them. I like to use Acetone, or lacquer thinner on a piece of old (all cotton ) T-shirt and/or Q-Tips and clean things twice before application.
The same goes for application of Loctite...(it won't work well on screws that have oil on them )

Anthoop

You're talking that brown runny stuff I.Surber!
Yes if there is a gasket then coat both sides but allowing a setting/curing time is unesscessary!!!
Please don't talk twaddle here too isurber!
Please show me a pic of your inlet manifold gasket curing under a heat lamp.Do you wish to see a picture of a six element/three stage/timed/high/low switching infared system ISURBER?Honestly mate your so full of horse manure i'm tired of you!
Please everyone,if your sealing things,nice even line of rtv then snug all bolts then tighten in sequence(I do have an automotive engineering degree)


.......or you could .leave it overnight??????..and 3 step torque?....what ISURBER you mean torque to a pattern and then re-torque 3 times?????................a full partial cure.........what the f are you on about??????Shutup and go away.Moron!

lsurber

Sorry, should have clarified! Specifically, I apply a thin film allowing a full cure. I then follow up with a thin film, assemble, allow full cure, and final torque sequence. Final torque sequence is progressively increased in steps. Three to be exact!

I seal all but the manifold valley using this method with 100% oil free,,,, air-leak free race engines time after time!

You seem to be quit @retentive there Anthrop! Perhaps some anger management would help you!

lsurber

This is my world Anthop! Where are yours?

lsurber

You really should be quiet now!

Anthoop

In no way alters the fact that your original post is twaddle mate.
Again,forced full cure under heat lamp-please explain,no need to apply a double layer of rtv unless your joining something that has extremely poor mating surfaces and your attempting to even out the surface(if you are i would not use rtv),oh and a full partial cure?

Anthoop

Oh,3 step torque,you mean cylinder head tightening sequence?Lots of different ways used some tighten by torque some by angle some re tighten after running some tighten in one stage some two some three...etc.I deal with gaskets and gasket sealant everyday and i've not had a comeback yet,thin even bead of sealant either side of any gasket fit part and tighten,no prob.
I take it you know what RTV stands for?....Room Temperature Vulcanizing.
You carry on and use your method and i'll use mine,not going to argue with you anymore pal.

megamaxx

all this over sealing an engine??[X(]

gt5500

No all this over bad advice my friend ( I am with anthoop on this one)

megamaxx

thats where a person has to use his own common sense and if something does not sound quite right ,DO NOT DO IT!!!but no need to start a flame war over it[sm=punching.gif]

Anthoop

Thankyou.
Yes megamaxx, his er advice bugs me in alot of posts,yes people could use their innitiative but i feel that many people will read "i build race engines" and believe.

lsurber

It is ALL TOO COMMON for people to apply a bead, torque, and forget about it. This is what increases the risk of leakage. It presses the sealant out and allows tiny amounts of metal to metal contact, which through expansion/contraction could cause leakage. A gasket of any kind reacts to pressure by compressing! This is what creates the seal! If you can understand this simple principal you may also understand why I pretreat mating surfaces with a thin layer and allow a full cure followed by another thin layer(un-cured) for final assembly.

Most engine builders do not use this method because of wait time. They need to make money and therefore take short-cuts to speed production.

I suggest you go back to school for some basic Material Science before you go shooting off about things you don't know!

Anthoop

Yah like i said wont bother to argue,funny how you dropped the heat lamp rubbish though
Go build a race engine!

DaveG55

Of all the BS and flaming flying around this ^^^^man^^^^ gave the best advice of all.

Past that, don't give a lot of credence to the "he said/she said" crap. Just read the packaging of the sealant you buy and follow the manufacturers directions. It's that simple.

lsurber

Your supposed to be an engineer so go plot the curve for cure time as a function of temperature and prove me wrong. Applying heat does indeed facilitate shorter cure time!

Mating surface has nothing to do with my method at all. If you ever took Material Science in Engineering school you would understand non-linear displacement(warping) as a function of temperature.

Your really proving how little you know!