Homemade exhaust gasket question...yeah, I know!

i'd go with the alum tape. unless u can find some asbestos type,normal rope will likely burn up.

Those exhaust ports get real hot. I have measured head pipe temperatures of 500*F at idle with an infrared thermometer. Lord only knows how hot they get you you hammer the throttle. Hotter than 700* is my bet.

testarossa wrote: Those exhaust ports get real hot. I have measured head pipe temperatures of 500*F at idle with an infrared thermometer. Lord only knows how hot they get you you hammer the throttle. Hotter than 700* is my bet.

i've done the same thing. i've seen high 600's on mine at idle.

I went the foil route after careful consideration. ok actually I walked in the hangar and one of the mechanics was twirling a roll of 3m metal tape on his wrist. This divine moment ended my search for asbestos and I went to work. Made a strip a little thicker than a salvaged copper gasket and traced the gasket, snippy snip, hammer hammer and damn! They looked pretty. Dry fitted them next then added a lol copper ptex and applied pipes. Gave it a start and Wunderbar!
An interesting trick if you really wanna geek-out while doing this is to put on a pair of noise canceling headphones while you goose the throttle. You hear the ticks if they're there since the noise canceling kills the decibels and leaves the underlying mechanical noises. I wish I hadn't heard my clutch so well.

A huge thank you to everyone for the great suggestions. The beast gets better every day!

Here's some measurements made in AZ 94F ambient temp pre & post oil cooler... 370F was the highest measured on exhaust ports... I guess on where you live and engine builds/exhaust/CARB Jetting riding style makes the difference etc....

trianglelaguna wrote: i often make my own helmets and gloves out of old newspapers and boogers...

:woohoo: