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1.8L 7Afe Head Gasket And Valve Seal Replacment

By marpolsdofer, July 1, 2012



I am rebuilding my 7afe engine currently. Please read the fully before you start poping off answers.

So I bought a evergreen gasket for the seals, gasket, ext.

From what I read on the internet evergreen head gaskets are junk (few people will say they work) but they composite ones.

I have the steel MLS one (you have to look for it becaues most come with composite, came with head bolts to) and have not found any reviews on them

Any thoughts on it? I dont want it to leak as I am using some very expensive oil for it to get the break in and long lasting of the engine. At the same time I need to get this engine out together and bleeding money.

The gaskets looks the same as the every other gasket I look for on the internet.

Also when I look at the repair book (and from what I took out) there is two color valve seals tan brown and a dark sliver looking color one.

In the evergreen kit I have all 16 of them are the same tan brown ones (witch would be Exhaust)

Any thoughts on this?

Any one have any thought on copper spraying the the MLS gasket (few tinny nicks on the block and minor defect on the gasket as the rubber coating) and what should be the thickness of it?

Dad has been mechanic for 35 years working on small mowers to trains (no aircraft) and did owned his own shop. He tells me he rarely sees a gasket in perfect condition and he has never worked with copper spray.

Expensive oil? Assuming Amsoil products for assembly lube, break-in oil, and service oil?

As for the valve seals - don't worry about the color, even getting ones from the dealership - they generally will not match the ones from the car. The valves generally have some marking/stamping on them to differentiate them. Sometimes aftermarket will change their processing and OEM will follow - so coloration between the original hardware and new hardware could be significantly different.

Gaskets - I've used composite and multi-layer steel - but never used Evergreen products. Most of my builds were using OEM or Fel-Pro for gaskets. Since I don't plan on tearing them down constantly, I usually budget a bit more for decent gaskets. Never had any issues with those gasket manufacturers and haven't desired to get anything else. The difference it price between the premium gaskets with even the possibility in having to redo the work - just wasn't worth it to me.

Copper spray - never used them. If the gasket mating surfaces are just barely scratched/nicked where I feel I have to fill them, then I get it decked/machined. If they are really fine - then I'll bead blast the surfaces - then check for flatness. No sense trying to fill in something - like smearing a gasket with RTV. Will it hold? Probably, but why go to through the trouble of a rebuild if you are going to band-aid it back together. Just my opinion.

Even in engines that I plan on tearing down later - like some of our small block powered dirt track cars - which we open up every 80-100 hours, regardless if they are down on power or no - just to assess wear and trying out new ideas.

But it also sounds like you are under pressure to get this thing back together - so your don't have a lot a time to mess around. I'd stick with the MLS ones, unless the scratches/nicks are very deep. If they are - you are likely to leak with MLS, regardless if you spray them with copper or not, and will need to use the composite ones. Depending on the quality of the composite gasket - engine could last as long as 200K+ miles or less than 50 miles. Unless you are taking the block in to be decked - given the time constraint, I'd roll the dice on the composite gasket and hope for the best.

I will just post what I said on other site and you can read all my concerns I come across, what I am using and such.

From what I seen the MLS gasket for the 7afe are all identical (maybe one uses different metal, coating and thickness). The 4afe there is more of a difference from each.

The block and head checked out strait as can be (the gasket I pulled off nothing was wrong with it just was swaping engine becaues car was wreaked 3-4times and good time to rebuild). I did not check the RA but I can handle that.

Valve seal people just said they was junk but the again poeple said the evergreen HG is junk but no one had anything to say about the MLS ones. Also depends if they lube and break them in properly.

Looking at them all 16 of them look at the same, no difference at all.

Copper spray I used on a few thing but never a HG. From what I read it help seal them tiny little defects on the HG and surface (like that little scratch you put on and everything els is perfect). I used it on all the gaskets so far. Just dont know if I should put them on MLS but others are common.

Cant really say it a bid aid but just extra insurance.

I know for a fact that it is not to be put in the inside as the gasket needs to move with the block and head. I dont see anything wrong with the outside as it would allow the gasket to be secured.

Might be wrong

I have done few rebuild on engines but all of them have been engines that are racing, not expected to be around for long, or used for something else other then my everyday driver. GF is comeing from Russia and she will get the car in about 1 year (need to teach her to check the oil often so she dont mess it up).

The concern that brought it up was guy on youtube had all is stuff machined and put the MLS on and it failed in less the 50 mi. He put on a composit one still working.

Then guy on yahoo says it becaues the shop did not check the RA witch need to be 20-25

As for oil I did not want problems the valve seal and rings seating. Most reason with rings in the past bad oil will will cause this and then you have leaks and carbon up.

I am using all Amsoil products- Assembly lube, break in oil using Mann filler. Then after the change it will use Signature Series 100% Synthetic 10W-30 and signature series filter. Both have change rate of 25,000 miles or 1 year (we have car here with 12,000 mi in 4 month pulled some out still looks good and its being tested by amsoil now to confirm) .

If you guys thank that is wrong you are talking to some one who uses Opti 2 in his race sled (sled say 32:1 but opti you run think 200:1)

Dealer of both Opti and Amsoil so that why I get it.

 

Rebuild had been going great other then a few stitches between 2 people.

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