Kawi2strokes.com Forum

Hi everybody,
The previous owner of my 72 H2 re-sleeved the cylinders and this damage is presumably from that event. The center cylinder has always leaked oil from the head gasket in the location of the missing material which surprised me because I assumed the head gasket sealed exclusively on the steel cylinder bore. I noticed that the copper gaskets I was using are larger in diameter then the cylinder and I have another set that are smaller and exactly match the bore so that alone might fix my leak. I was thinking of trying JB weld to repair the missing aluminum but then thought of going old school and using lead. Any thoughts or recommendations on the best way to fill this void?

JB Weld should work fine. Put a smear of copper gasket sealer on gasket surfaces.

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Answers are here: http://kawatriple.com/

Thank you!

It's more likely the gasket is leaking because the surface is not flat. Try some fine sandpaper on a flat surface like the ground top of a table saw and see if it touches evenly.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

I did that with the head Jim and it's perfectly flat. If the problem persists, I'll check the cylinder.

Is the top of the liner flush with the aluminum? It looks like it might be slightly lower, and that could certainly cause a problem.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

You have a keen eye Jim.
Each of the metal cylinder liners sit .002 below the surface of the aluminum.

So a head gasket doesn't really contact the liner and is trying to seal on the aluminum outside it. I'd machine the tops of the cylinders so the liners protrude a couple thousandths of an inch above the aluminum. Any decent automotive machine shop, or any decent machine shop for that matter, should be able to do that for you.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.