How to Anneal a Copper Head Gasket for Triumph Motorcycles

[@shanedebarra4986]

Hey guys, love your vids ... one tip though. Don't quench the copper. Everyone always does (I think people like the satisfaction of dunking hot metal in water 👍) ... but actually, your copper will be softer if you go to cherry red then let it cool to room temperature at its own rate ... or better still on a firebrick. Trust me, it's like butter after that. Try it !!! PS ... I'm a time served Goldsmith/Silversmith with Blacksmithing and Toolmaking experience, so I'm speaking from experience.

[@Jigsaw_knows]

Thanks for sharing

[@charliedee9276]

I remember watching my uncle anneal the head gaskets on his 68 ironhead when I was a kid in the 70's. He would let me hold the torch steady on the bench while he danced the gasket in the flame till it glowed. I currently have a street/drag 74 ironhead I mess with a lot, every time I anneal my gaskets I remember uncle Sonny showing me 50 years ago.

[@RulgertGhostalker]

I am going to try the copper spray next time I am in there ... I used gaskacinch last time, and wasn't super impressed with the ease of application....I mean it did the trick, but messy.

[@wes89]

Don't need the water. Just heat.

[@motoridersadventureengineer]

Can I used annealed copper gasket for crankcase cover?

[@scootertrash647]

Fyi. Save yourself a few bucks. Since 2009 they don't make mapp gas anymore. The map pro they sell now only burns about 130f hotter then propane. Unless you run it with oxy.

[@TornadoCAN99]

Any advice on using copper HG's vs fibre flame ring type HG's, particularly for classic brit bikes (Triumph/Nortons etc)? I've heard not to use any type of adhesives/coatings on the fibre type as they have something already in the material from manufacturer. Also, I assume this is the same annealing method to use for copper sealing washers, correct?

[@lowbrowcustoms]

I have only ever used copper head gaskets on vintage motorcycles, sorry but I can't speak to the fibre types. I use an annealed, clean copper head gasket and use Gaskacinch or Permatex Spray-A-Gasket to coat both sides of the gasket (as per instructions on the gasket coating), then assemble. I have never had a head gasket leak or blown a head gasket, even while racing. Of course it is important to make sure that the gasket surface on the head and cylinder barrel is nice and clean, and smooth! You can 'face' it on a thick piece of glass with fine emery paper if needed...

[@michaelhayward7572]

Imho the modern ring type multi material head gasket for 10 stud Triumph 750's and Norton Commandos is the best gasket available. For 650 Triumphs and other Brit parallel twins, stick with the stock copper head gasket.

[@michaelhayward7572]

Re copper washers sure. But 3/8" and under are cents on the dollar. Bigger, more unobtanium versions, sure.

[@charliedee9276]

I tried high tech fibre flame rings type on my ironhead Harley drag bike, nope. Blown gaskets. Went back to copper and have not had a single issue.

[@jackbeanstock7710]

never herd of copper spray?, do you mean never seize? need some clarification on that .thanks

[@t.s.racing]

Jack, although there's Copper Anti Seize, the right type for spark plugs by the way, Tyler's referring to Copper Gasket Adhesive. Permatex and Loctite both make one, available at most Auto Parts stores or Engine Shops. Yes, they're spray on. I hang my gaskets by a length of mechanics wire to spray and completely coat both sides evenly. GOOD LUCK. T.S. RACING 🇺🇸🏍🇺🇸

[@lowbrowcustoms]

Not never sieze (aka anti seize), you can use Permatex Spray-A-Gasket, or similar... Works great!

[@jcerullo5015]

What is 2 inch under length or standard length mean on your springer forks

[@lowbrowcustoms]

2 inches under the standard length of the springer. If you look at the listings it tells you the standard length of each springer we sell, and then if it’s 2 under its 2” under that length, if it’s 2 over 4 over 6 over it’s that many inches over that length

[@jcerullo5015]

@@lowbrowcustoms so it will lower or raise the front by X amount basically it has nothing to do with angles

[@MoeLarrycurly1]

Unfortunately they don’t make real map gas anymore I did plumbing and air conditioning years ago I don’t know what happened I think the factory closed don’t know why but I don’t know what’s going in the cans they’re saying is map gas now but it ain’t as hot

[@robertsrbell7811]

Awsome

[@benderbender1233]

🤘😎

[@soldtobediers]

Had a date like that once; still got her. -DU69160

[@michaelpreston2392]

Ok so if you don’t know what you’re talking about you need to stop making videos telling people the wrong way to do something. You did not soften the copper. What you did is harden the copper and also made it more brittle. What you just did is called tempering.

[@BigAl53750]

Umm, I spoke to an engineer recently, who only works with heads, about this very subject and he mentioned dunking it in water. I worked for 20 years in a factory that produces electrical cables and during that time I ran a wire drawing machine that pulled wire through reducing dies to get it down to very small sizes, like 0.02mm. Part of the process was running it through an annealer which does exactly what you see here, but much faster. When this engineer mentioned cooling the copper down, I remembered that after the heating stage of annealing the copper wire, it goes through a cooling bath. When I commented that dunking it hot metal in water hardens it, he reminded me that this is true if you use oil, but not water. It seems counterintuitive to be doing what we see in this video, but it’s not. Some wires we produced required what we called ‘hard drawn’, which is not annealed, for which we just drew through the sequence of reducing dies, which made it hot, but ran it through oil, which made it harder. So this guy isn’t incorrect in what he’s doing. Granted, allowing the copper to cool gradually is better, as someone else commented, but I can tell you that cooling it quickly in water doesn’t make it harder and certainly doesn’t do any harm.