What grade steel to use for motorcycle cylinder head washers

Can anyone suggest what material to use for motorcycle cylinder head washer?

Can I use EN 8 or EN16 in un-hardend form?

Hardened and tempered Silver steel?

Thanks

Lionel

Reply to
Lionel
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Presumably an alloy head? Is there any need for anything other than mild steel (unless you are worried about corrosion).

Reply to
newshound

EN8 or EN16 will be pretty much the same as mild steel in un-hardened form. I would avoid leaded EN1A purely because it is far more susceptible to corrosion than unleaded varieties.

Oil bluing won't do a lot of good, but won't do any harm at all.

Mark Rand RTFM

Reply to
Mark Rand

anyone suggest what material to use for motorcycle cylinder head

Yes alloy head.

Some years ago I bought a Matchless cheap with a blown head gasket, the washers were mild steel and chewed up and had bowed/sunk. I tracked some down from an old motorcycle shop, they were thicker and the top edge shamfered slightly, I remember the guy telling me they were expensive as they were hardened. He had them made for a vintage machine he was rebuilding.

I had thought of using some 316 stainless, but was wondering just what spec is normally used for these washers.

Have just bought a Sunbeam to tinker with, want to replace some of the hard to get nuts with stainless, in no hurry to get it all done, but when the head comes off was planning to use new washers and nuts, to tidy up all the chewed up nuts. At present the washers appear different diameters and thicknesses.

I could probably buy these in, but interested to know how hard the washers need to be.

Thanks

Lionel

Reply to
Lionel

For most purposes, washers should be soft. They're there to spread the load from the nut and to protect the face of the part from being buggered up by the nut. Spreading the load needs soft, protection needs new washers when they get buggered up.

If the washers dish on the first use, make them thicker. If they dish on subsequent use, make new ones...

Hard washers are only really called for when they are working against machined surfaces or acting as spacers (swinging arm caps would be a good case).

Mark Rand RTFM

Reply to
Mark Rand

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