MTFCA Forum

I've read that you can reuse a copper head gasket.
Does this include the copper head gaskets that Lang's sells? Thanks, bobt

I’ve taken my head off at least 4 times in the past couple of years and have reused the same copper gasket each time. As long as you are careful when you remove it so as not to bend or distort it, it will work just fine with some copper coat.

I'm old-school. I would not reuse a headgasket if I could get a new one. I have not received a new Lang's catalog in several years, perhaps they are now strictly online, but in the 2021 catalog that I do have, they are very good about describing the quality of many of the items that they sell. I don't believe that they would sell a product that wasn't of great quality without saying something in the catalog that it was less then of top quality.

The copper head gaskets can be reused more than once and more if you remove them carefully and clean off the block and head surface well. We have to remember to clean up the head and block really well! In fact in the T era owners would do this more than you think.
Sometimes we overthink and start resurfacing a block and head when it’s not really needing it. Yes if it’s a good rusted head or block you might want to do that on a new rebuild but that’s your choice of course.

And yes a perfectionist will resurface it every time. Of course it’s my opinion and not wanting to start a long thread about it.

A perfectionist would also replace the head bolts every time

When the great copper head gasket famine hit I ordered every head gasket I could get copper, steel & silicone. Someone told me that if you get
the copper gasket off with no damage & you soak it in hot water it will swell the gasket up so it will have some crush when installed again.
There was no noticeable increase in thickness when I soaked one. One would think if you properly torqued the head that there would be no
additional crush left? I have reused B & S head gaskets many times but never a T head gasket. Ditto on the head bolts & the same on rod bolts.
SMB head & rod bolts used are cheap @ the speed shop that doesn't reuse them & way stronger than stock Ford. But not for the purest.
Craig.

I had heard the soaking trick to expand the used copper head gaskets, but with a different twist. The gasket is soaked, and then frozen, the theory being as the ice freezes it expands, so giving it some new crush. I haven't tried it, but have re-used copper gaskets if they look OK. My sealant of choice is a liberal coat of aluminised paint, allowed to go sticky before fitting the Gasket. I have even carried a small pot of this paint on board, just in case there may be a need for it on the road.

Allan from down under.

babychadwick wrote: ↑

Sat May 24, 2025 6:52 pm

A perfectionist would also replace the head bolts every time

I guess that I'm sorta a perfectionist then. Shortly after I bought my T I pulled the head for inspection purposes. When I reinstalled it, I used a new headgasket from Lang's. I also inspected the head bolts (technically head capscrews) and replaced two of them.

I was at the junk yard in March, waiting at the counter when the employee working there got a phone call. He began looking directly at me, with the most awful look on his face. After hanging up the phone, he explained that a customer on the phone "wants to buy a used head gasket" and "how much are they?"
I had the opportunity to explain to him that if the head gasket were for a Model T and was copper, I'd use it again.