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float bowl gasket alternative

11K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  whillis 
#1 ·
I'm planning to take the float bowl off the carb, but I have no way of obtaining a gasket. What's an alternative to a gasket? will silicone work? or will the gas weakens/break down the silicone seal?

Thanks
 
#3 ·
slam said:
you can buy "gasket sheet" material... then you can just cut out what you need and essentially make your own gasket.
but the gasket is of the o ring style, except that it's in a rectangular shape, and there's a groove in the float bowl to place that "ring" gasket in. How do i go about cutting a gasket out of a sheet to fit in the tiny groove?
 
#8 ·
Commuter Boy said:
You can order a gasket set from any of the grey importers out of the UK. Or just be very, very, careful taking it off.
I am trying to find a way of avoiding waiting months just to get some seals.

oldgixxer said:
Go to an auto parts store and buy a length of oring of the same thickness. You can cut it the same length and glue the ends. There is also a special glue for this.
Didn't know they actually sell o ring strips, interesting, I'll go check it out. Thanks
 
#9 ·
On older bikes, like this one, the gaskets squish over time and are cease to seal well.

Leave the old one in and use silicone gasket maker on the rim. Just a thin but noticable smear is all you need. it should be enough that it just barely squishes out a tiny bit. Screw it down and let set for a few hours before letting gas come down into the float bowl.
 
#10 ·
TeeTee said:
On older bikes, like this one, the gaskets squish over time and are cease to seal well.

Leave the old one in and use silicone gasket maker on the rim. Just a thin but noticable smear is all you need. it should be enough that it just barely squishes out a tiny bit. Screw it down and let set for a few hours before letting gas come down into the float bowl.
So silicone works. alrighty, thanks :rockon
 
#11 ·
Speaking from personal experience DO NOT use silicone sealant around gasoline. I used it on some float bowls and it broke down and gunked up my carbs causing me endless pain and distress.

I have used "make your own" o-rings kits as suggested and the magical glue which joins the ends is merely crazy glue (cyanoacrylate).
 
#12 ·
That's why I suggested waiting for it to dry well. But if you had trouble then I stand corrected.

THose oring kits should be available from Lordco. If not then ask them about a gasoline resistant liquid gasket in a tube.

There's a LOT more than one sort of silicone or liquid gasket product. It may just be that the regular bathtub silicone sealer isn't gas proof.
 
#13 ·
I think you'll find that most gasket goo type products break down when they come in contact with gas. It can be found but I forget the name now. I never use it because as Tee Tee says the trick is to use a very little of it and try avoid getting it in the bowl.

Here's what I would do.

Take the carbs apart and let the gaskets dry up. O-rings swell when they come in contact with gas. As they dry they will shrink given some time ( a day or two will do). Use that time to do what you need on the carbs. When it comes time to put it all together first dry fit to insure the o-rings are fitting as needed then smear some gasket goo (that will work with gas) on and Bob's your Uncle.....
 
#15 ·
If you are bound and determined to use a sealant ... use OMC Adhesive M. This stuff is impervious to gas and diesel. I have used it and seen it used in a variety of applications successfully. Available at any OMC dealer.

Like someone else said, there should be permatex products that will do the same.
 
#17 ·
Commuter Boy said:
They fit in small envelopes. Here in less than a week from the UK. Sooner if you want to pay for FedEx express or the UPS equivalent.
I know UK and even Japan still has them. I got a OEM valve cover gasket a while ago. The thing is, who/what store do I contact to get those parts and have them ship it. So my only way so far is those importers, who doesn't get shipment sometimes for months.
 
#18 ·
I'd look into getting some opinions from some of the forgien discussion boards. Obviously England would be a good place to start just because they speak a lanquage we can understand... sort of....

Register at www.visordown.com and ask about some good shops in England that would mail order stuff to you. Austrailia would be another good place to check. Oddly enough I suspect that Japan would not be a good place since the bikes there are traded in for new stuff regularly due to some rule about old polluting machines being more heavily taxed.

Or, of course, if there's any FZR boards out there that strongly support the 250's then some of the members will likely be in locations that can get parts easily and with a little bit of exchanging of favours you may find that you end up with an ally in a forgein country that'll ship you parts.
 
#22 ·
Try Acklands. They should stock a custom o-ring kit. If you still can't find a kit here's an inexpensive and easy way to do it yourself.

1.Take the old ring and float bowl to somewhere with a decent selection of o-rings (lordco?) and find one that's the right thickness (with the new ring in the groove 1/4 to 1/3 of it should be above the top of the groove) but too long to fit properly. Or if you can find an exact fit so much the better because you can ignore the rest of this post.

2. Buy two or three of these rings, a new razor blade, and a bottle of cyanoacrilanoate (don't go by my spelling)

3. Carefully cut one of the rings. You want the cut edges to be as square as possible. Lay it into the groove and determine how much to trim off to get it to length. Trim off the excess nice and square.

4. Here's the tricky part. you now need to glue the ends together with the cyano glue. My trick is to fold a 1 inch piece of wax paper so I have a sharp V, put a tiny bit of glue on one end of the ring (just enough to wet the cut surface, no extra) then use the V of the paper to guide the ends together so they mate perfectly.

5. Give the bond a good 30 seconds to harden and you're done.

I've done this several times and never had a problem. The squarer you can cut the ring and the more accurately you can mate the ends the better but a small error is ok because the rubber will flex and absorb it.

The square o-ring you have was probably once round but has hardened into the compressed shape. I've seen it happen before.

Good luck!
 
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