drmini in aust wrote:
ACL Monotorque. Excellent gasket. But don't believe the `monotorque' blurb, retighten it when hot, then do it again at 1000 miles or so.
+1. The modern monotorques aren't bad. And as the doc says, they will need re-torquing at the first service when you do your tapets. The older monotorque gaskets were not really any different to the Aluminium composite gaskets (just a different material but still needed re-torquing and they were both grubby to remove..... oh and by the way, absolutely nothing wrong with the standard aluminium ones they do their job fine, its just that when you're stripping the motor they are a pain to get off).
I still use copper gaskets in my motors. I seem to be the only one, many others on here have had problems with them blowing a while ago, this could have been due to a bad batch or poor prep work (machining needs to be up to scratch if you're using copper), none of my cars were affected and none of the new gaskets I have used recently have given any issues. Many people still won't use them because they are admittedly dearer than the others (copper aint cheap). The reason I find them appealing is because they come apart clean, and if its going back on the same motor (and nothings been remachined) they're often re-useable......
Another varity are the Cometic Gaskets. They're a 3 ply stainless gasket. Very good gasket and highly re-usable (they'd want to be for how much you pay!)
