exhaust gaskets ???

[graybird78]

I just re placed my exhaust on my 80 sg with one from a xj 1100.as far as I know my original exhaust has never been off. my question is I didn't have any exhaust gaskets.could have been stuck in the head but don't recall seeing any. never any leaks till exhaust fell apart. xj exhaust did'nt look like any gaskets either. still no leaks. what's up.

[Ken Talbot]

Chances are the gaskets are still in the head. After years of heat, carbon, and pressure, they don't compress quite to diamonds, but they'll be firmly pressed into the head. I've had them in so tight I had to use a fine cold chisel to cut them through before I could work them out.

[Deni]

Mine also were carbonned in to the point of not being able to see them at first. I pryed them out with a screwdriver. Then, to get all that carbon out of that area, I took a thin piece of wood with corners on it (I think moulding toe-board) and scraped all around the head and as far down inside as I could get. This created a pile of carbon dust in there, which I vacuumed out with a vacuum cleaner hose. The hose fits almost perfectly to the exhaust port and if you leave a little gap to create turbulence it will suck out every piece of carbon dust that is not nailed down.