Ken-chan's car blog

You can make custom soft gaskets really easy and save quite a lot of money.  By “soft gaskets”, I am referring to gaskets that are not do not include steel gaskets such as the ones used for exhaust, etc.  Soft gaskets can be used to provide a good seal against oil and air leaks.  I have been making custom soft gaskets for my turbo projects for 2 years now without leak issues, etc.  Just make sure when you purchase gasket sheets, you use the right gasket material for the specific job it was designed for – use oil type of gasket when you will be making gasket for the oil return line for your turbo – I found that coating the finished gasket with slight layer rtv sealant helps to give it rubbery characteristic which should make it more resistant to moisture.

Here are some DIY gasket pictures for a T25:

Let’s get started:

1. Take piece of regular photocopier / printer paper.

2. Put the part into a vice or on a stable surface.  Use pencil to trace the shape of the flange through the paper.

3. Cut the shape you just drew and punch out / cut out the bolt holes.  Basically we’re making a gasket template on paper so we can trace it onto gasket material.

4. Trace out the shape on the gasket using the template you just made.  Cut the gasket material to the shape you traced on it – hole punches are very useful to get the bolt hole sizes right instead of having to mess around using exacto knife or cookie cutters, but you can do it either way.

5. Put it on the flange itself to see how it sits.  You can gently file or cut it to fit the flange exactly – this way it will not reduce air flow and will last without tearing, etc.  Make sure you don’t cause any damage to the actual flange.  Afterwards – clean up any dust that accumulates from the trimming of the gasket (air compressor / cloth / visual spot check come in handy).

6. Here is how our new gasket looks back on the turbo…

Ok some more examples..

T25 inlet / outlet gaskets…

KA24DE IACV gasket…

* Point of interest: if you are putting your IACV back on the manifold that still sits on the motor, it’s good to use dental floss or string to hold the gasket & screws together until you start to tighten them on the back of the manifold.  It saves a lot of time and headaches resulting from falling gasket / screws.  Once you start tightening, pull on the string so it unwinds and you’re done.  This works great in places where you have limited access with one hand.

Here is an example of a pod I made for a friend. 

After measuring & marking the gauge circle cuts on the wood, using hole cut outs I cut out 2 1/16″ holes, spray-protected the pod with moisture resistant wood varnish. 

Example of hole cutout set I used to make the gauge pod – click here to see how the remaining cut 2 1/16″ wood pieces were reused in making a boost leak tester

Afterwards I lined inside of the gauge-holes with thin layer of padding tape to ensure gauges would hold firmly without being crushed by expanding wood if it ever gets moist (it also gives it some room to expand so you can still pull out the gauge if you twist it but it sits firmly inside without bouncing around).  Afterwards, I sanded the edges on belt sander to give it smoother, rounder look in case my friend would decide to mount it externally somewhere.  I am not so creative – it’s mostly about function & durability but you could make it round, etc.

Here’s a finished wooden gauge pod I’ve been using for the past 4 years:

BEST PART OF THIS DIY is that you can:

• Color it any way you want.
• Mount it any way you want.  It can also be made for exact fitment under your stereo, etc.  I am currently using a wooden 3-gauge pod in my car that I made back in 2006 that sits under the cd player – no issues with shaking, rattling, fading, etc.
• If you choose oak or other solid wood – it’ll be more durable than the cheap plastic stuff you can get online.  And it’s still cheap to make – provided you have the basic tools.
• You can create custom wiring layout with fuses and brackets to make swapping gauges and installation on any car real easy.