You are right i've never had any success with a composet head gaskets, i always yous a copper one. My best wishes to you from the Philippines ♥️👍💪😉😀😁🏁🏍️🛺🐑🇵🇭🏴⭐
Cat seems to mirror your own thoughts on this one. Generally unconcerned. Like her I'll be interested in seeing you fix it. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.
She came over to see if there had been a CATastrophe . Not the end of the world by any means , but it would be a pain if was the only bike you had . I try to keep a spare gasket in stock . But you've got spare bikes in stock ! Grand job .
@dungspreader The trouble is, if I kept spares for all the Enfield's I own, I would be building new bikes from bits! Puss was worried if I was going to start working on it there and then, I would forget about the can opener !
Mine has a composite. I smeared it with Wellseal . I hope it lasts. It's done 1,500 miles so far. I nearly went for the copper one. I thought these would be better. 🤔 Do you fit yours dry VB ? Years ago i would of considered it as 'Cowboy' to use any kind of sealer but Hitchcocks advise you do. We used Wellseal down the Bus Depot. I swear by it.👌
@@Volcanicbrown1878 If it's good enough for RR then it's good enough for me ! When i bought this R/E Bullet, the W ⚓ who rebuilt it must of had shares in Wellseal. They smothered the head gasket with it and they even poured it down the C/Head Studs so i literally had to thump the barrel from all angles to remove it. I had the fight of my life because as you know, that stuff goes rock hard. I can't believe that i never broke any fins. I wish you could see what i mean because you'd be horrified i reckon. It never leaked though.
@@Volcanicbrown1878 Thanks for answering, its just that I have come adrift on occasions using a torque wrench so I generally go by feel and give them a nip if they need it after a run. Not so easy I realise if you're running a complex engine!
Hopefully you do a video of the fix I’ve noticed a little weep from my one and have just ordered a copper gasket as well😀 Do you use welseal when fitting a copper gasket or is a dry fit recommended?👍🏻
@martytoal6547 Hello stranger, I haven't heard from you for a while! Use Wellseal on both sides of the gasket as it helps around the pushrod tunnels. Yes, I will make a video about it!
The trouble with them is, the head gasket is trying to do two things, seal the pushrod tubes and seal the barrel. Composite is best for the former, copper is best for the latter. Clearancing the spigot can help matters. Cometic make a head gasket for them which is composite with a metal fire ring which seems to give the best of both worlds. I've seen people use a simple copper one for the head and have grooves machined round the pushrod tubes to take a couple of o-rings which seems like a perfect solution. Seems a lot of work though.
@@Volcanicbrown1878 Mine always seem to blow oil after a bit, usually on the left side, which always seems odd given there aren't any oilways there, I presume it leaks down the studs. I went off wellseal after it stuck a head on so thoroughly I broke the bottom ring off the barrel trying to remove it. Landed up dropping the engine and lifting the whole head and barrel assembly off the studs. Good excuse to fit an alloy barrel anyway. Next time I have a head off, I'm going to check the spigot clearance with plastiguage and really dial that in so the gasket is fully compressed and not doing too much work with regard to sealing pressure in.
In my experience copper gaskets never blow but they always weep oil around the pushrod tubes. I have a fancy composite gasket from Hitchcocks fitted on my 500 Fury which has been oil tight…but I did check the torque settings a couple of times.
@56Model30 I find that just a plain copper gasket works fine if you use Wellseal. Haven't had any problems with oil leaks on some of the other bikes. And how lucky are you to own a Fury !!
@@Volcanicbrown1878 I’m afraid it’s a modern replica rather than the real thing. A Hitchcocks remanufactured big head, roller bearing crank and race cams mated to a 5-speed box in a Watsonian Cafe racer rolling chassis.
@@56Model30 That still sounds like a cool bike to me! Shame Hitchcock's are not going to produce any more Big head replica heads. Have you seen my Fury effort? ua-cam.com/video/a6YrJFKwBrY/v-deo.html
I got rid of my head gasket! I machined the spigot on the cylinder so that it created something like a valve seat between the cylinder barrel and head. Worked fine for thousands of miles.
Did you know that a mikicarb off a 500 can fit onto a 350 . With a manifold from Allen performance ? Might be worth it if you have one of those in stock..
@Classics-in-the-sun I am not sure if jet sizes go down small enough for the 350's using the 500 carb, will have to check. Brand new Mikcarb's are dirt cheap to buy.
I tried that. They don't start well and idle like crap, you also need to feather the throttle or you can bog it if you go to full bore roar. I also tried a 28mm amal and it was much the same, a tiny top-end gain at the cost of easy starting and stable idling with all the design flaws inhearant in the Mk1 concentric (afterthought slow running curcuit, fast-wear carb body and lacklusture fuel feed). You're limited by the inlet port diameter and fitting anything bigger is really a waste of time, even with a ported head, a 28mm carb is a bit on the big side. Might be some gain from pushing it to 26mm but even then, you're looking at a fair bit of engine work to take advantage of it for a very marginal gain. I went back to the mikcarb on my 350 in the end because what I want it to do is start and run well which is one thing the 350 bullets excell at. I did upgrade the carb by fitting mikuni internals to the mikcarb which made a noticeable difference to the smoothness of the whole affair.
@@Volcanicbrown1878 Had some success with fitting one on my old mans 400 , with the same jet's as the 500 , think I fitted the smaller main jet. It was a while ago. And we did have to modify the air box bracket. Unfortunately there's not enough room to the same carb with my woodsman exhaust on my 350 . Think it would benefit as it was running out of fuel in the bowl. Evan after drilling the fuel tap. In the end I increased the sealing washer ID in the fuel tap as well. Even tried in largeing the float needle.
@@twostroke350 guess it depends on your over mods.. I've had success with the VM28 mikicarb one a long stroke 350 . My 350 would probably benefit as it was running out of fuel on the hills. As my mikuni VM 26 kept flooding at the end of last year.. But all sorted now after resetting the float height that works and changing the size of the fuel tap sealing washer ID..
@@Classics-in-the-sun The Indian fuel taps are garbage. Even when working properly the flow is still underwhelming. I fitted a pingle tap on my 612 bullet which flows fuel like an upturned bucket (can empty the tank in 3 minutes) but it took a fair degree of fettling to get one to fit due to thread sizes and overall diameter of the tank outlet for filter screen clearance, also £££. OMG brand taps are pretty good and inexpensive which is what I use on my 350.
@@Volcanicbrown1878 composit of 2 thin layers of copper sandwiching a heat resistant mid layer thinner than a solid copper giving a slightly higher compression had one on last 10000 miles regards rod
The biggest problem with these true classic Enfields is not torquing them down once a year. But you’re right, solid copper is the way to go. Had to give a friend a hand to change his. I think they recommend checking them at regular intervals. I tuned mine up as the standard compression is so low, they’ll run on paraffin! I put a new old stock Crusader piston in mine, compression went from 6:1 to about 9:1. Slightly larger jet, filed the throttle slide to decrease cutaway, and increased throttle advance by about 1/4” to get to fifties spec. Had to dremel out the ignition advance slot, as they are so badly made it’s almost unbelievable. Timed it to 7/16” BTDC. Used to start first kick from cold, and pulled and revved freely. Completely transformed it for the cost of the piston and a jet(put the old rings in the new piston to save running in)
@spamhead This one has been torqued down every 6 months! Now your telling me something, I didn't know the Crusader was the same bore size as the 350 Bullet! Learn something every day!
@@Volcanicbrown1878 You can use a meteor minor piston in a 350 bullet. Direct swap, forged, no cuts behind the oil control ring which can allow the crown to collapse and marginally higher compression.
@@twostroke350 I wasn't planning on buying one as I have a pair of good standard HC Constellation pistons here on the shelf! Meteor minor Pistons are fine and not renown to collapse. The only prob is there are no oversize's for them, just standard ones. Forged pistons are fine too, but I can't justify the price to warrant putting one in a 350 Bullet! They don't rev hard enough to need one ! Oh. Subbed to your channel by the way, You got some interesting stuff going on there!
While you’ve got the head off, have a look at top dead centre position of the piston. Mine was about 3mm down with no base gasket. I could probably have taken it up to 7:1 just by getting the top of the cylinder milled!
I'd be interested in watching you change that
👍👊
@thepipesmokingbeekeeper8917 Will do!
I'll look forward to seeing the gasket being changed,sounds like the postage is more expensive than the gasket!!
@patrickgreenman8248 Enfield parts are so cheap, I can buy a complete crankshaft assembly ready to fit for £128!
You are right i've never had any success with a composet head gaskets, i always yous a copper one. My best wishes to you from the Philippines ♥️👍💪😉😀😁🏁🏍️🛺🐑🇵🇭🏴⭐
The beauty of a "simple" bike.....
@petersheppard6085 Any simpler and it wouldn't run!
Cat seems to mirror your own thoughts on this one. Generally unconcerned. Like her I'll be interested in seeing you fix it. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday.
@mrrarerooster3578 I think the only thing the cat is interested in is if I can still work the tin opener!
She came over to see if there had been a CATastrophe .
Not the end of the world by any means , but it would be a pain if was the only bike you had .
I try to keep a spare gasket in stock . But you've got spare bikes in stock !
Grand job .
@dungspreader The trouble is, if I kept spares for all the Enfield's I own, I would be building new bikes from bits!
Puss was worried if I was going to start working on it there and then, I would forget about the can opener !
Lovely little cat, l had the same happen on my Electra x , the only thing that ever went wrong apart from the throttle cable snap in seven years.
@dozerblade Cat says "Thanks"! Some of the Electra X engine's suffered from premature crank pin failure, but not all.
Mine has a composite. I smeared it with Wellseal . I hope it lasts. It's done 1,500 miles so far. I nearly went for the copper one. I thought these would be better. 🤔
Do you fit yours dry VB ? Years ago i would of considered it as 'Cowboy' to use any kind of sealer but Hitchcocks advise you do. We used Wellseal down the Bus Depot. I swear by it.👌
@ianwoollard9008 I use Wellseal on everything but especially on head gaskets It's excellent stuff, developed by Rolls Royce no less!
@@Volcanicbrown1878 If it's good enough for RR then it's good enough for me !
When i bought this R/E Bullet, the W
⚓ who rebuilt it must of had shares in Wellseal. They smothered the head gasket with it and they even poured it down the C/Head Studs so i literally had to thump the barrel from all angles to remove it. I had the fight of my life because as you know, that stuff goes rock hard. I can't believe that i never broke any fins. I wish you could see what i mean because you'd be horrified i reckon. It never leaked though.
@@ianwoollard9008 Oh my! You only need a thin coating!!
Are the new J series 350s with composite gaskets too? .. Waiting for my Hunter 350 at the moment 🤤🤤
@Stefan_trekkie I'm not sure on the J's, I haven't opened one up (Yet!)
Do you use a torque wrench after fitting the new gasket? and would you use new head bolts or just reuse the old ones? Just wondering 👍
@aladinfox4098 Yes, I always torque the heads down and reuse the bolts if they are OK
@@Volcanicbrown1878 Thanks for answering, its just that I have come adrift on occasions using a torque wrench so I generally go by feel and give them a nip if they need it after a run. Not so easy I realise if you're running a complex engine!
Hopefully you do a video of the fix I’ve noticed a little weep from my one and have just ordered a copper gasket as well😀
Do you use welseal when fitting a copper gasket or is a dry fit recommended?👍🏻
@martytoal6547 Hello stranger, I haven't heard from you for a while! Use Wellseal on both sides of the gasket as it helps around the pushrod tunnels. Yes, I will make a video about it!
@@Volcanicbrown1878 😀I’m still watching and enjoying yer stuff 👍🏻
@@martytoal6547 Good man!
I look forward to seeing you fix it
@ianbishop5951 I can see that video is going to have to be made!
The trouble with them is, the head gasket is trying to do two things, seal the pushrod tubes and seal the barrel. Composite is best for the former, copper is best for the latter. Clearancing the spigot can help matters. Cometic make a head gasket for them which is composite with a metal fire ring which seems to give the best of both worlds. I've seen people use a simple copper one for the head and have grooves machined round the pushrod tubes to take a couple of o-rings which seems like a perfect solution. Seems a lot of work though.
@twostroke350 I just use a copper gasket with a thin smear of Wellseal on both sides and never had a problem.
@@Volcanicbrown1878 Mine always seem to blow oil after a bit, usually on the left side, which always seems odd given there aren't any oilways there, I presume it leaks down the studs. I went off wellseal after it stuck a head on so thoroughly I broke the bottom ring off the barrel trying to remove it. Landed up dropping the engine and lifting the whole head and barrel assembly off the studs. Good excuse to fit an alloy barrel anyway. Next time I have a head off, I'm going to check the spigot clearance with plastiguage and really dial that in so the gasket is fully compressed and not doing too much work with regard to sealing pressure in.
@twostroke350 That's odd, Wellseal is "supposed" to be, non hardening!
You're right the cat does seem very concerned 😂 But the Bullet soldiers on. I love the old Bullet, videos on them are few and far between!
@felixVanDiemen I like them because they are infinitely rebuildable. for not much money!
I'm looking forward to seeing you work on the bike.
@54macdog I'l do a vid on it!
In my experience copper gaskets never blow but they always weep oil around the pushrod tubes. I have a fancy composite gasket from Hitchcocks fitted on my 500 Fury which has been oil tight…but I did check the torque settings a couple of times.
@56Model30 I find that just a plain copper gasket works fine if you use Wellseal. Haven't had any problems with oil leaks on some of the other bikes. And how lucky are you to own a Fury !!
@@Volcanicbrown1878 I’m afraid it’s a modern replica rather than the real thing. A Hitchcocks remanufactured big head, roller bearing crank and race cams mated to a 5-speed box in a Watsonian Cafe racer rolling chassis.
@@56Model30 That still sounds like a cool bike to me! Shame Hitchcock's are not going to produce any more Big head replica heads. Have you seen my Fury effort?
ua-cam.com/video/a6YrJFKwBrY/v-deo.html
I got rid of my head gasket! I machined the spigot on the cylinder so that it created something like a valve seat between the cylinder barrel and head. Worked fine for thousands of miles.
@PaulSavage-c7p Yes that's another way round it. I did that to one of my 500's without any probs.
Seven quid to fix a blown head gasket. Gotta love these bikes.
@Trev350 Parts are really cheap!
still sounding sweet!
@Between-Bikes It has no right to!
Did you know that a mikicarb off a 500 can fit onto a 350 . With a manifold from Allen performance ?
Might be worth it if you have one of those in stock..
@Classics-in-the-sun I am not sure if jet sizes go down small enough for the 350's using the 500 carb, will have to check. Brand new Mikcarb's are dirt cheap to buy.
I tried that. They don't start well and idle like crap, you also need to feather the throttle or you can bog it if you go to full bore roar. I also tried a 28mm amal and it was much the same, a tiny top-end gain at the cost of easy starting and stable idling with all the design flaws inhearant in the Mk1 concentric (afterthought slow running curcuit, fast-wear carb body and lacklusture fuel feed). You're limited by the inlet port diameter and fitting anything bigger is really a waste of time, even with a ported head, a 28mm carb is a bit on the big side. Might be some gain from pushing it to 26mm but even then, you're looking at a fair bit of engine work to take advantage of it for a very marginal gain. I went back to the mikcarb on my 350 in the end because what I want it to do is start and run well which is one thing the 350 bullets excell at. I did upgrade the carb by fitting mikuni internals to the mikcarb which made a noticeable difference to the smoothness of the whole affair.
@@Volcanicbrown1878
Had some success with fitting one on my old mans 400 , with the same jet's as the 500 , think I fitted the smaller main jet. It was a while ago.
And we did have to modify the air box bracket.
Unfortunately there's not enough room to the same carb with my woodsman exhaust on my 350 .
Think it would benefit as it was running out of fuel in the bowl. Evan after drilling the fuel tap. In the end I increased the sealing washer ID in the fuel tap as well. Even tried in largeing the float needle.
@@twostroke350 guess it depends on your over mods..
I've had success with the VM28 mikicarb one a long stroke 350 .
My 350 would probably benefit as it was running out of fuel on the hills. As my mikuni VM 26 kept flooding at the end of last year..
But all sorted now after resetting the float height that works and changing the size of the fuel tap sealing washer ID..
@@Classics-in-the-sun The Indian fuel taps are garbage. Even when working properly the flow is still underwhelming. I fitted a pingle tap on my 612 bullet which flows fuel like an upturned bucket (can empty the tank in 3 minutes) but it took a fair degree of fettling to get one to fit due to thread sizes and overall diameter of the tank outlet for filter screen clearance, also £££. OMG brand taps are pretty good and inexpensive which is what I use on my 350.
Owning a Royal Oilfield nearly made me blow a gasket. It was so much trouble I gave it away.
@TonyDean-y9c Problem solved!
Real life issues; this makes for an interesting video. Be good to see the repair on video.
@RockerMark Never a dull day here! Always something happening !
Be nice to watch you sort it VB,we haven’t all got your expertise (by that I mean me..)
@duncangallup9012 HaHa! Anyone could do this! But I will do a video on it when the gasket arrives.
Check out Henry price two sorts available
@rodneygunn788 Yes, Composite and Copper! Copper is reusable and composite isn't.
@@Volcanicbrown1878 composit of 2 thin layers of copper sandwiching a heat resistant mid layer thinner than a solid copper giving a slightly higher compression had one on last 10000 miles regards rod
@rodneygunn788 Ah! The composite gasket on this bike is all composite with no copper at all, Probably why it didn't last!
The biggest problem with these true classic Enfields is not torquing them down once a year. But you’re right, solid copper is the way to go. Had to give a friend a hand to change his. I think they recommend checking them at regular intervals. I tuned mine up as the standard compression is so low, they’ll run on paraffin! I put a new old stock Crusader piston in mine, compression went from 6:1 to about 9:1. Slightly larger jet, filed the throttle slide to decrease cutaway, and increased throttle advance by about 1/4” to get to fifties spec. Had to dremel out the ignition advance slot, as they are so badly made it’s almost unbelievable. Timed it to 7/16” BTDC. Used to start first kick from cold, and pulled and revved freely. Completely transformed it for the cost of the piston and a jet(put the old rings in the new piston to save running in)
@spamhead This one has been torqued down every 6 months! Now your telling me something, I didn't know the Crusader was the same bore size as the 350 Bullet! Learn something every day!
@@Volcanicbrown1878 You can use a meteor minor piston in a 350 bullet. Direct swap, forged, no cuts behind the oil control ring which can allow the crown to collapse and marginally higher compression.
@@twostroke350 I wasn't planning on buying one as I have a pair of good standard HC Constellation pistons here on the shelf!
Meteor minor Pistons are fine and not renown to collapse. The only prob is there are no oversize's for them, just standard ones. Forged pistons are fine too, but I can't justify the price to warrant putting one in a 350 Bullet! They don't rev hard enough to need one ! Oh. Subbed to your channel by the way, You got some interesting stuff going on there!
While you’ve got the head off, have a look at top dead centre position of the piston. Mine was about 3mm down with no base gasket. I could probably have taken it up to 7:1 just by getting the top of the cylinder milled!
@spamhead I think I would be inclined to machine the cylinder base rather than top!