Head Gasket Fitting and Mystery

[Tom Wesenberg]

Here are some pictures of my temporary engine I installed about 15 years ago in my 28 Phaeton. After it has been through some serious overheats I removed the head almost two years ago, figuring the gasket had to be shot. Actually it was still good, but as usual after each overheat the head nuts needed to be retorqued.

I was going to tear the engine down to find the light ticking noise, but for now I will just put the head back on and drive it some more. The pistons have plenty of side play, and I'm sure that's what the light ticking is. The pistons are .015", so I'm hoping to get by with honing to .020" and installing new pistons, rings and valves when I tear it down.

The pictures show how you should lay the gasket on the block to check for full coverage of the fire ring, and also do the same on the head. Every part of the fire ring must be pinched tight on both sides.

Now, they mystery is about the bubble in the head gasket where the head has a large opening, but the block is solid in that same area. Did VICTOR stamp the bulge in the gasket, or did it form after the gasket was installed years ago? I can't imagine the factory stamping it in, and yet I see no way for it to form on it's own, as it's solid steel on the bottom side of the bulge.

The markings read: VICTOR 800-C
US Patent 1815601
Canada 314895