[JimmyRea]

Hi folks,

The time has arrived to replace the head gaskets on my 3.0 CF2 GTV. After spending several months getting the car roadworthy early this year, I was dismayed to find the front head leaking coolant (only when cold). The leak was from the area near the water galleries at the front of the head. At the time I couldn't face the job so radweld was used as a temporary measure. The car has proved extremely reliable and has since done 5000 trouble free miles with no overheating or cross contamination of fluids. However, weekend boredom is now setting in and as a nice (perverse!!??) winter project I have decided to replace both gaskets before any damage is done. I will be attempting this with the engine in place as I believe this is possible (but more difficult than removal of the engine). It will also be a good opportunity to clean the heads and relap the valves/replace stem seals. My question is, are there specific brands of gasket to avoid? Are the Autolusso kits OEM gaskets? On the bay of e there appear to be AJUSA kits for 1/2 the price of those on sale at certain specialists for example. Any advice will be gratefully received!

Regards
Jim

 

[bradpit999]

I would take the Autolusso variant over the Ebay ones any day, I would imagine Autolusso will change more HG than anyone else and ones they sell from shop are used in the workshop, Call Them up and have this conversation with them

 

[JimmyRea]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. I have pinged them an e-mail. If anyone is interested I will post pics of the work. May take some time as I work away Mon-Thur.
Regards
Jim

 

[Unclejam]

I'm planning on doing the same job soon Jimmy - will look forward to seeing more on this. Is your car a 1998? Mine is too.

 

[JimmyRea]

I'm planning on doing the same job soon Jimmy - will look forward to seeing more on this. Is your car a 1998? Mine is too.

Hi,
Yes - it's a '98. I'm hoping it's not going to be too painful. I've had pretty much everything undone in the last 6 months (except the head bolts and the wife's blouse) so things like the exhaust manifold bolts won't be a problem. I was actually pleasantly surprised as to how clean internally the engine is (now has 135K on the clock).
Unfortunately Autolusso don't have any head gasket sets, only full engine gasket sets. I'll start a new post pertinent to the job in hand. Done plenty of head gaskets in the past but the majority were cast iron OHV lumps which are pretty basic and (in my experience) will tolerate the use of budget gaskets. Will be taking my time and try to enjoy the job.
Regards
Jim

 

[bradpit999]

Keep us informed not many tackle this job so your experiences would be welcome, I do hope it is an enjoyable satisfying job

 

[richard younger]

Got my gasket set from Alfa Workshop, two years of use and abuse and still ok. My CF3 front head gasket failed in the same place but had to be welded and skimmed due to a spot of localised corrosion. Good luck!

 

[JimmyRea]

Got my gasket set from Alfa Workshop, two years of use and abuse and still ok. My CF3 front head gasket failed in the same place but had to be welded and skimmed due to a spot of localised corrosion. Good luck!

Thanks both - post will commence this weekend!

 

[Haan]

Reinz or OEM

Avoid BGA and Ajusa

Good luck with job

 

[Unclejam]

Keep us informed not many tackle this job so your experiences would be welcome, I do hope it is an enjoyable satisfying job

Do you mean the engine or the Wife's blouse??

 

[JimmyRea]

Obviously hasn't met the missus! :ermm:

Reinz gaskets on order.

 

[Unclejam]

Obviously hasn't met the missus! :ermm:

Reinz gaskets on order.

:rofl:
Where did you order them from if you dont mind me asking?

 

[richard younger]

Got my gasket set from Alfa Workshop, two years of use and abuse and still ok. My CF3 front head gasket failed in the same place but had to be welded and skimmed due to a spot of localised corrosion. Good luck!

Genuine Alfa may 2016 when I got mine, seems they are no longer listed

 

[JimmyRea]

Hi,

EB Spares - a little pricier than Alfaworkshop. Here's the link.
https://www.ebspares.co.uk/part/U/EB4/EB281.cfm

Not sure how many they have left...
Regards
Jim

 

[Unclejam]

Hi,

EB Spares - a little pricier than Alfaworkshop. Here's the link.
https://www.ebspares.co.uk/part/U/EB4/EB281.cfm

Not sure how many they have left...
Regards
Jim

Hi Jimmy
Am just about to buy my head gasket set and had a quote from EB, including all the water pump / thermostat gaskets etc too. Did you buy from EB in the end?
They supply Reinze gaskets.
Cheers

 

[JimmyRea]

Hi,

Yes I used EB spares but you need to confirm with them that they are both Reinze. I think one was Reinze and the other was wasn't (cant remember the brand)....

 

[Unclejam]

Really? Bit cheeky supplying two non matching gaskets!! :rofl:
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[JimmyRea]

They did say over the phone but the non-Reinz one was a decent brand.