Hitchcocks Forum

Has anyone got any experiences of using the composite head gasket on a iron barrel Bullet instead of the copper one? I was thinking of using it with out any sealant.

Yes. Used one with no problems. There's one in my 350 bullet now. I preferr it to the copper ones because of the lack of sealant and ease of use. No vehicle uses a copper gasket these days, they are pretty much all composite and fire ringed. Fit and forget. The only good reason I can think of to use a copper gasket is so it can be re-used.

Thanks Stinkwheel up to now I've only heard negative reports & from known experts too, I wanted to use one to avoid the whole goo thing. None of my modern bikes or cars has used a copper gasket

Hi NEV... if you smear coppergrease on the composite gasket it can be re-used many times. I use one in my iron barrel 500 Bullet and has for years. The copper grease makes it easy to pull the head off without destroying the gasket, and makes a gas tight sealing too... regards Jacob

I've had one on for 15k with not problems at all.

Thank you JTL & PeteF, I also intend to use the new composite rocker gaskets

I've got the composite gasket on my Lightning. Abosolutely no problems with it.

Do they still require re-torqueing?

I was told they didn't need re-torquing so I didn't. No problems so far.

I re-torqued mine after warm up then at 50 and 500 miles. Took a good 1/8 to 1/4 turn on each nut each time.