Head gaskets & bolt kits

[acox99 71 1 Cars]

So what’s good head gasket wise these days. I wanted to get a payen one as they have always been good but they don’t seem to make an XU5/9JA one anymore. Second choice is Febi as most of there products are good. Or are all the ones out  there the same thing just different Branding. Also head bolt kits, good and bad ones out there? Some are seriously cheap. Not wanting OE just something pattern that’s good. 

[DamirGTI 323]

Erling

and

Victor Reinz

 

Can't go wrong with the two for gasket material seals and head bolt sets .

 

D

[welshpug 1,621]

payen still do lots of xu stuff, i use a local engine place to get stuff.

[Thijs_Rallye 86 4 Cars]

Victor Reinz, Elring or Goetze. My experiences with Payen seals have been dismal through the years.

[acox99 71 1 Cars]

I tried all the factors and they can’t get anything. Il try gosnays as they supply me a lot of stuff. Otherwise it’s good old eBay or online factors. I’ve seen those 3 available, Cheers

[acox99 71 1 Cars]

https://www.cartech-one.co.uk/en/search/v-2315/t-head gasket/peugeot-205-ii

 

ive just come across this place that does Corteco bits for a very good price. . I read somewhere they make the OE gaskets. May be useful for someone

[welshpug 1,621]

never used a factors for engine bits, they've always been too expensive and never stock stuff.

 

payen has been fine, they made a lot of the oem stuff and have built a few quite modified engines without any issues at all.

[welshpug 1,621]

engineparts.co.uk was one place i recall, as well as my local south wales pistons.

[Telf 222 2 Cars]

GSF supplied my head bolts and had the rest of the stuff as well. ( although Miles actually supplied my head gasket kit)

[ArthurH 5]

On 7/30/2018 at 10:21 PM, acox99 said:

So what’s good head gasket wise these days. I wanted to get a payen one as they have always been good but they don’t seem to make an XU5/9JA one anymore. Second choice is Febi as most of there products are good. Or are all the ones out  there the same thing just different Branding. Also head bolt kits, good and bad ones out there? Some are seriously cheap. Not wanting OE just something pattern that’s good. 

So which ones did you plump for in the end?

 

I noticed Gosney's higher in the thread - have you used them much?

 

 

[ArthurH 5]

Are there any differences between any of the gaskets for a 103bhp engine and a 115bhp?  Those advertised for the former don't show compatibility with the latter... ?

[ArthurH 5]

On 7/30/2018 at 10:32 PM, DamirGTI said:

Erling

and

Victor Reinz

 

Can't go wrong with the two for gasket material seals and head bolt sets .

 

D

 

Based on the above, we went for Victor Reinz for both the bolts and the head gasket set.  The top bolt (upper in the photo) is the type we took out.  The new bolts (lower in the photo) have a much shorter thread length and some odd 'steps' on the shank.  I would imagine these must serve a purpose as would have cost more to manufacture.  Any ideas?

 

[welshpug 1,621]

IIRC thats what the original stretch type bolts looked like back in the day, instead of being slightly waisted like the bolt you removed.

[ArthurH 5]

Thanks Mei

[acox99 71 1 Cars]

I went did the victor reinz too. And I have used gosnays for machining for many years. They do a great job and are always very helpful and friendly, I highly recommend. They are a well established company and have been around donkeys years. 

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

They do vary with what you get but as said it is what the OE bolts used to be like, Mind doing them up is a lottery so make sure the treads are clean and you use some ARP type Grease

[ArthurH 5]

On 1/18/2019 at 6:08 PM, acox99 said:

And I have used gosnays for machining for many years. They do a great job and are always very helpful and friendly, I highly recommend. They are a well established company and have been around donkeys years. 

Thanks Alistair, we dropped the head of with them yesterday.  Had a good chat with the guy behind the counter - he also filled us with confidence 

 

On 1/18/2019 at 9:33 PM, Miles said:

They do vary with what you get but as said it is what the OE bolts used to be like, Mind doing them up is a lottery so make sure the treads are clean and you use some ARP type Grease

I thought I would look up ARP grease and found this video.  Although quite lengthy, I was impressed by the detail and the science behind why the bolts need to be discarded after use:

 

The guy (aka Pete's Garage) has done a series of videos, I'm going to work my way through them (when I can find the time  )

[Roeland_Vester 5]

I made a rudimentary 'thread cleaner' by filing grooves perpendicular to the thread of an old headbolt, and running this bolt a few times up and down in each hole. Luckily the xu block is designed such that the head thread holes have an open bottom.

[ArthurH 5]

Thanks Roeland!  They say 'great minds think alike'!  I was going to do very similar.  I think I'll Dremmel the grooves to keep a reasonably sharp edge

[Tom Fenton 1,524]

I made a extended tap for this job