hi guys getting to the final stages of putting my engine back into my ute and i am replacing the gasket where the injection manifold bolts to the head on a ca18 and the gasket has gone hard and is really stuck badly to the head, i started scraping it with a paint scraper but in a spot i got the scraper stuck and it dug a small chip out of the head. im just wondering if theres any tricks to softening the gasket or anything to get it off i tried a bit of paint stripper but that didnt do much if anything at all. the engine is in the car at the moment somaybe consider that before posting.

Maybe to start off soak it in carby cleaner. Just spray it all over the gasket. Then get a good, stiff scraper and very carefully pick it off in sections running paralel to the mounting surface so you dont damage the head any more.

There is stuff in a spray can called gasket remover/stripper something like that....it's really good at eating into gaskets.

This stuff...

awesome thanks mildman, i thought there may have been something out there i just hope i dont have to put too much on coz of the head being on the engine and all,just have to take it easy i guess.

Yeah be careful this stuff strips paint pretty easily too.

i would take the studs out, then get a 90' die grinder and the rolek pad thingys easy as pie.

Quote: You were lucky. Paint stripper is usually caustic based & this stuff loves to eat its way through alloy. Leave paint stripper for paint on wood or steel.
Mildman has got the answer in a nutshell, or is that, in a can.