Hi all,

Just got my e320 1995 head back from the machine shop and he had to shave it down to deal with some warpage. I now need a thicker than standard head gasket. Does anyone know a source for such a thing? He said that if the gasket is not thicker than normal it will throw the timing off.

I have tried all the usual parts supplier suspects that I know of.

Thanks very much,
Jim Lee

 

How much was shaved off ???

Try Scott Blood sablood@accessus.net.
If I recall he made a custom thick head gasket for a turbo M104 application to lower the compression ratio.

 

There really is nothing like that to my knowledge. If he took to much off you are going to have to have the pistons machined to match. He should have planed no more than .4 mm on the head any more than that and you are going to have possible issues. Call him up and ask how much he took off.

 

More research shows me that the head was not scraped beyond spec. .3 mm was taken off. There are some heads that you can get thicker gaskets for for various reasons including the head was shaved beyond normal limits. There are also 'shims' of some sort that can be used in certain situations for certain heads. My MB 1995 E320 does not have a thicker gasket made for it though I would assume you could get a custom made one.

My head gasket is the Victor Reinz, less expensive, not cheaper, one and does have what look like perforated metal tabs at the front corners where the timing chain cover juncture can cause oil leakage. My oil leakage was coming from a slightly bowed head though I do not remember overheating it I will certainly accept that that was causing the leak. An exhaust valve or two got too hot also. Bottom line is that I am very glad I bought it to the machine shop to be looked over. I was just going to replace the gasket and hope for the best. The 'best' in this case would have been one large dissappointment.

For those of you who are thinking about not taking the head down to a machinist I will show you the cost....which in a world where lower ball joints for this car cost about $400 each seems to me to be money well spent.

Valve Job...................................$180
Pressure Check............................$45
Resurface...................................$45
R&R cam.....................................$60

Total.........................................$330

Those costs look a whole lot more normal than the costs I have seen for any parts available for this car.

On to learning reassembly lessons.

Jim Lee
1995 E320 Wagon