'72 CB450 head gasket

[lucas2696]

Does anybody know of a good aftermarket head gasket for a '72 Honda CB450? Mine blew out on me today going down the highway and I was wondering if there were any good modern ones seeing as how gasket materials and stuff has come a long way in 40 years.

 

[Big R]

I can't remember the name of the place, but it's mentioned in the last couple pages of Rocan's build thread. It was a post by CrazyPJ- they make copper gaskets in various thicknesses (at least for the CB350's and 360's)

 

[joevirus563]

Does anybody know of a good aftermarket head gasket for a '72 Honda CB450? Mine blew out on me today going down the highway and I was wondering if there were any good modern ones seeing as how gasket materials and stuff has come a long way in 40 years.

Copper will blow the same as composite. Only dif is that the copper one can be used over again. You can hammer it straight, heat it and use it again, but it wont resist blow more that composite, in fact composite is stickier than copper. Copper need your head to be really, really perfect... Composite will conform better to imperfection. You can always use permatec gold one for gasket and add some to copper gasket to seal it up like i did yo my cb450 high compression piston kit.

I have a composite stock gasket from Vesra which is mornern and italian. 40$ and its yours.

If not here's a link for the copper one: http://www.coppergaskets.us/

 

[whataulooknat]

Best bet is to just buy a cheap headgasket. Doesn't matter how nice of one you get it won't last any longer than a factory one. Honestly I've never seen a 450 that didn't have a headgasket leak. For some reason they are hard on them.

 

[teazer]

Head gaskets should not leak. Make usre it's all flat first and then if you want a new one try Cometic Gasket

 

[whataulooknat]

Yeah its definitely a bad thing when they leak really screws up your compression. I'm just saying these 450's go through them pretty quickly compared to other bikes doesn't really seem to matter what brand you use.

 

[lucas2696]

Thanks for all the info, I'll probably just get an OEM one, but either way, I may as well go ahead and start tearing it down. I'll probably go ahead and replace the base gasket while I'm at it too.

 

[whataulooknat]

well if you are going to go that far you might as well hone the cylinders and slap in some new rings.

 

[lucas2696]

May as well, I have a honing tool, and I doubt rings are too pricey.

 

[rockcitycafe]

Best bet is to just buy a cheap headgasket. Doesn't matter how nice of one you get it won't last any longer than a factory one. Honestly I've never seen a 450 that didn't have a headgasket leak. For some reason they are hard on them.

get a copper gasket, properly installed, it will last for the rest of the life of the bike and won't leak

 

[whataulooknat]

yeah you can find rings for around 15 or 20 bucks if you look around. some go for around 50. Just price check around. Heck check ebay for NOS ones as well.