Dumb question of the day; when to reuse a gasket?

[Cursh]

Never? I just pulled the clutch side crank case on my CB360 and the gasket all stayed with the cover and looks to have been recently replaced. (P.O. was a honda tech. Recently probably means 2010, which was unfortunately only a few hundred miles ago) The oil centrefuge was also very clean.

Anyway, what’s the over under on reusing a gasket? (I’ve got the replacement sitting on my bench, so it’s not a question of cost - more so waste)

Photo because my dumb words are only worth so much:

 

[Cursh]

SO SOMETIME I WALK AROUND MY MESSY SHOP BAREFOOT! :

 

[2_DONE_THE_TON]

As long as they don´t leak and are cracked (had cracked gaskets that didnt leak) I would reuse them.They are not like rubber seals that harden over time.

 

[Cursh]

As long as they don´t leak and are cracked (had cracked gaskets that didnt leak) I would reuse them.They are not like rubber seals that harden over time.

Fast as fuque. Thanks. I’ll keep this one around for the inevitable future where I have to crack the clutch side again.

 

[datadavid]

Actually, you often glue one side with gasket cement so it can be reused easier, i do it on all my clutch covers, saves a lot of time and money. Klingersil ages very well.

 

[jpmobius]

I re-use gaskets all the time. It depends on the application obviously, but if the gasket is intact as Ryan mentioned, there is no reason not to re-use many gaskets. Deformable gaskets - like head gaskets - of course should not be re-used, but even these if solid copper can easily be annealed and re-used indefinitely. I commonly assemble "paper" gaskets - like side cover gaskets - by gluing the gasket to the cover with something like 3-bond (Yamabond/Hondabond, etc) and smearing grease on the other side. Never leaks and the cover comes off clean and easy so the gasket is not damaged.

 

[irk miller]

I use Indian Head shellac to basically glue the gasket to the cover just like what you have there so you can reuse it over again. I then paint some on the motor side when I put it back together for a nice tight seal. you can get away with pulling the cover on and off a bunch of times that way. Always worked great on the valve covers of our VW Bug drag cars where we may need to make quick, last second adjustments

 

[teazer]

Sometimes I will glue one side and grease the other side, and other times I just grease one side and let the other side stick naturally with heat.

For clutch covers etc which will come off more often that's the only way to go. Composite head gaskets are use once and throw away, copper can be re-used after annealing. For side covers, it's mad to keep scraping old ones off and replacing them if they are not leaking.

 

[Cursh]

Madness and laziness are indistinguishable to the uninitiated.

Thanks for the insights. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting my sea legs here.