New Cylinder Heads

[Clay3Weil]

I found cracks in the heads that came in my 81 Gl 1100 I recently bought. tried everything under the sun to seal the old ones and nothing worked so I went ahead and ought a set off ebay. ($125) for the pair. Will I need new gaskets for the new ones and will they need to be resurfaced?

[ekvh]

You’ll need new head gaskets (1 per side) and the O-rings for the oil orifices, (2per side). A lot of people use only OEM Honda headgaskets after a rash of early failures in aftermarket brands. It would be wise to replace the cam seals(3) and the valve seals. If you do the valve seals you may as well lap the valves too. It wont hurt to resurface the heads, but a good flat edge will tell you. I think the tolerance is 0.004” lengthwise and 0.002” the short way.

[Hoosier Jack]

Too bad that I didn't know about the heads, I have four. I agree with machining the heads flat since it is very good insurance against gasket leaks. Most people do suggest the Honda head gaskets but I have used aftermarket ones with success. I use copper gasket sealer as well.

This is a good time to look at the valve seals and the springs. Why not, everything is off the bike. Leak test the valves as well.

[Clay3Weil]

Too bad that I didn't know about the heads, I have four. I agree with machining the heads flat since it is very good insurance against gasket leaks. Most people do suggest the Honda head gaskets but I have used aftermarket ones with success. I use copper gasket sealer as well.

This is a good time to look at the valve seals and the springs. Why not, everything is off the bike. Leak test the valves as well.

how would you go about leak testing the valves? and I haven't bought gaskets yet if your wanting to get rid of a set!

[Stew]

A quick way would be to set the heads on something so they're level with the combustion chambers facing up. Fill the combustion chamber with isopropyl alcohol, if it hasn't leaked out after some period of time the valves are sealing pretty well. Google probably has much better steps to follow.

[Hoosier Jack]

That is pretty much it Stew.

[Clay3Weil]

That is pretty much it Stew.

Where did you find aftermarket gaskets? I've looked all afternoon and cant seem to find any?

[imboot]

After market gaskets can be bought from e-bay just watch what you buy as there are junk suppliers as well as quilty ones reminder if you get a $250.00 gasket set for $50.00 it is probably junk

[brianinpa]

Spend the extra $ and buy OEM gaskets. Western Honda is worth it...

[ekvh]

Last time I bought from Western Honda, they were $41 each. Not too much more than the aftermarket ones. I have run both and run copper gaskets. I blew the aftermarket ones out, then a set of oem. The copper ones contain the combustion chamber but have annoying oil leaks. Small but annoying.

[Clay3Weil]

Last time I bought from Western Honda, they were $41 each. Not too much more than the aftermarket ones. I have run both and run copper gaskets. I blew the aftermarket ones out, then a set of oem. The copper ones contain the combustion chamber but have annoying oil leaks. Small but annoying.

Where would I find the copper ones?