Hello All,
Haven't posted in a while but recently I have been thinking of a cheaper alternative to ZZP's phenolic spacer. As a supercharged L61 I would have to modify the phenolic spacer before installing and with the gasket being almost $100 it makes me wonder if there is a more cost effective solution.

The idea is to laser cut a gasket out of PTFE(Teflon) sheet to reduce heat soak. I would also add a provision for the L61 PCV system to improve airflow. One idea is to buy 3/8" sheet and surface mill both sides of it to achieve a final thickness of .25" (or thinner). This ensures uniform thickness across the sheet before laser cutting.

The concerns I have with this project is how well will Teflon seal to the aluminum flanges and whether it will require 2 paper gaskets like the ZZP phenolic spacer has. Another concern is whether the gasket will hold up under heat and pressure and if the heat cycles will lead to degradation of the gasket over time.

So far it's only an idea and any input is appreciated as it would likely save me from wasting my time.

 

What can you make them for?... I'd try one.

 

Pretty much the cost of materials as I have access to a lot of different CNC machines and design software. Do you think heat would be an issue? I'm just not sure how hot the head flange would get.

 

I was measuring engine component temps last weekend and the intake was around 130 and that part of the head was 150 to 170

 

Is there a material spec (ASME, ASTM, etc.) associated with the teflon? That should list all of the various properties of it assuming you have access to the spec.

 

i wonder if it would be strong enough. when we use PTFE as bearing liners it has a fabric that provides structure. The teflon then doesn't move around in the bearing. Granted, these bearings I'm thinking of are WAY more stressed than you'd see, but still could be a concern. I also haven't heard of PTFE being used to seal (it's a friction-reducer, after all) so I'd expect you'd need the gaskets as well.

 

I've used PTFE as seals, it works fine. As long as you can keep it from deforming. Usually the gasket is in a groove or its a gasket for a sanitary fitting. So if you can make a raised edge to compress with the intake manifold bolts (assuming the bolts and head can handle is) you should be fine.

It starts to deform/become soft around 220*C iirc, it might be at a lower temp like 175*C but either way I don't think the engine will see those temps.

 

If the head sees 428F we will have much bigger issues