BI-METAL & SOLID COPPER HEAD GASKETS

Bi-Metal Head Gaskets are a unique next-generation design to replace the older solid copper gasket.  They are a 0.6mm or 1.0mm thick head gasket made from solid materials that do not require any extra block or head machining, annealing or pre-treatment, and are especially suitable for prototype & high power engines with little space between cylinders, or irregular fire-ring shapes.  The gasket is pre-treated with a soft, high temperature conformal coating, and pressurised oil-ways can often be fitted with an extra rubber seal.  Average price for a 4 cylinder gasket is £158.00 or £177.00 depending on size, and as with all jobs, an exact price can be given once all details are known.  Please call for more details, Mike Tanski can be reached on 01559 372143.

Trade enquiries are welcomed, confidentiality is assured, and individual jobs can often be completed within a few days.  There are no set-up or tooling charges for new gasket drawings, minimum order is one.  As with Solid Copper head gaskets the most important aspect when fitting a Bi-Metal gasket is to ensure that both surfaces are completely flat (i.e. freshly machined), with a surface finish that matches or exceeds the requirements of a Multi Layer Steel gasket.  The clamping system must also be carefully considered.
Each gasket is specially made for your engine, so alterations for special applications (larger bores, off-set oil ways or bores etc) are no problem.

Solid Copper Head Gaskets

• Can be used as a "stand-alone" road or race gasket for high boost & nitrous applications where standard gaskets have failed.  Copper is unlikely to  "blow-out" and as a near perfect heat conductor will take heat away from the combustion area.  There is a choice of sealing mechanisms that can be employed, more info below.

• For older vehicles & motorbikes where original gaskets are unavailable, or when engine modifications make the original gasket unsuitable.

• Solid copper head gaskets can sometimes be re-used.

There are various ways of creating a suitable sealing system for a solid copper head gasket.  The 3 most common ways are -

1- Ferriday Sealing Rings (Patent applied for) seal the combustion area with no need for wire rings or any machining to the block or head.  These are currently in stock to suit 28 different bore sizes, from 41mm to 101mm.  More sizes inc. special shapes (e.g. for side-valve engines) can be made to order, special "siamesed" rings for cylinders 2 & 3 of the Austin Rover "A" Series engine are also in stock.  The FSR system has already succeeded where other gasket types have failed - can be found in Danny Kirk's 11.1 second Cosworth Sapphire 4x4, & Mick Rogers' 10.5 second Cosworth Cortina.  Modern sealants prevent coolant loss, with the option of using micro-thin copper or rubber "O" rings around oil galleries.  Our software will calculate the effect that each different thickness of copper gasket will have on your compression ratio.

2 - Double Sealing Rings.  If bore spacing allows (e.g., Ford YB Cosworth), it is sometimes possible to use a "double" sealing method, using FSRs as well as wire ring grooves.  This creates a "labyrinth" type seal, we have achieved excellent results at well over 250bhp per litre.  Please call for more information.

3- Wired Block, sometimes with Receiver Grooves - A more aggressive sealing method is to machine a groove into the top of the block and inlay a piece of wire that protrudes to "bite" into the copper gasket.  If a "receiver" groove is machined into the head the wire will push the copper into the head groove - this is very aggressive & very effective.  I'd be happy to advise further, and can help with all machining processes.

(If none of these are feasible for your engine design please look at our Bi-Metal gaskets above).

As a stand-alone head gasket thickness should be a maximum of 1.6mm - much over this & it becomes more of a thick metal plate and less of a gasket.

Changing the thickness of your head gasket will alter the compression ratio to some degree.  I'd be happy to calculate this for you as long as you can supply the following information - bore, stroke, current CR, original gasket thickness, and the diameter of the gasket "fire-ring".

Click here for a list of some gaskets currently held on file.   New files can be created quickly from an existing gasket.  Please e-mail mike@ferriday.co.uk if you'd like to receive some info on copper gaskets and/or decompression plates.  All of these gaskets are available in Bi-Metal or solid copper.

Although a Bi-Metal or solid copper head gasket should be regarded as a "hard-core" competition component, a lot of customers use these on their road engines.  One of the most important factors when fitting these products is to ensure that both the block & head are completely flat, with a surface finish that matches or exceeds the requirement of a Multi Layer Steel gasket.  Please note that these products are almost never the answer to a basic head gasket failure, and should only be considered when other gaskets are no longer suitable.  As a solution to a strength problem these can be almost unbeatable providing the utmost care is taken during engine machining & preparation - because of the nature of these products a certain amount of input from the builder/machinist is required.

If you're undertaking a turbo engine build and are struggling to get the compression ratio down to an acceptable level, or are unhappy with your combustion chamber design, you may consider having the combustion chambers CNC machined.  More details on the CNC Combustion Chambers page.

All materials & tooling used in the manufacture of these products come from ISO9001/9002 suppliers, and all Ferriday Engineering products are made entirely in-house using current-technology CNC machinery.

OTHER COPPER GASKETS
Other copper gaskets can be made from basic line drawings, e.g., special down-pipe or turbo joints etc.  Trade enquiries are most welcome & will be treated with complete confidentiality.  More details & prices on the CNC Machining page.

 

If you've got a Cosworth with a block machined for Coopers rings, we can supply a solid aluminium replacement for the fibre gasket "carcass".  These are usually 0.038" thick, made from 5251 Aluminium sheet, and provide more rigidity than the soft fibre carcass.  More details & prices on the CNC Machining page.