Renewing headgasket

[Mysticp]

Hey guys, doing the cambelt this week and going to renew the headgasket at the same time.

1. Is it worth doing? For the extra £30 i think it is but what do i know

2. Would putting the +0.2mm gasket on affect the performance of a cammed engine? Or should i just get a standard one?

Tar

[luthor1]

Altering the thickness of the headgasket will either increase (thicker) or decrease (thinner) the compression ratio. The saxo is fairly high as standard, hence it responds well to it's tuning mods and can become a very efficient engine when mapped well.

I would neither increase now reduce the compression ratio since 10.4:1 is pretty much ideal.

Furthermore, with a different head-gasket, the cam timing will alter since the distance between the top and bottom pulleys will change, therefore the dowels won't be in the right place. Pedantic, and maybe negligible, but a point worth making still!

Go steel by all means, but keep the thickness the same

Andy

[Mysticp]

Cheers Andy, exactly what i was looking for. I'll just renew it with a direct replacement.

Ross will be here in a day or 2 i think anyway so he will know if i've done something wrong!

[lcheater]

Originally Posted by Mystic

Hey guys, doing the cambelt this week and going to renew the headgasket at the same time.

1. Is it worth doing? For the extra £30 i think it is but what do i know

2. Would putting the +0.2mm gasket on affect the performance of a cammed engine? Or should i just get a standard one?

Tar

I would say it depends on your current mileage / service history and how you drive it. If your mileage is high, have an incomplete service history AND/OR drive it like you stole it, then i would say it is probably a good idea to do it while the cambelt is off. Afterall, if your headgasket goes a couple of months after changing the cam belt, you will need to replace the cam belt again when you do the head gasket.

Change of headgasket for £30??? Headbolts are around £30 on their own aren’t they?