Nominations for improved cooling head gaskets - fourth round

[Harv]

Ladies and gents,

It's gotten round to that time again. I did a batch of the gaskets a while back, and kept about a dozen for my own stash. Over time I've helped people out who didn't order (I'm a sucker for a grey motor rebuild story), and now have no gaskets left in my own stash (other than the 3 I still owe Dave).

It seems that there is still some demand from people wanting the cylinder head gaskets, so I will do another round (I've had more than 300 made so far). Same deal as the last three times, and pricing will be similar (the numbers below were from last time, and may change slightly):

a) Gasket: $43 per gasket (or whatever AA Gaskets quotes me).
b) Packaging (7mm ply, wrapped in tape, instructions stashed inside): $3 regardless of the number of gaskets ordered.
c) Postage: $25 regardless of the number of gaskets ordered (yes, your postage might be slightly less... you still pay $25. Trying to manage many, many individual postage costs is beyond my attention span).

So if you want one gasket, you owe me $71.
If you want two gaskets, you owe me $114.
If you want three gaskets, you owe me $157
If you want four gaskets, you owe me $200
If you want five gaskets, you owe me $243
If you want six gaskets, you owe me $286

Rough timing for the process:
a) I'll collect expressions of interest from these forum posts. I need at least 50 nominations to make a gasket run. Not sure how long it will take to get 50 nominations - please be patient. I don't make a red cent out of these gaskets, and I have more than enough grey motored projects that are lagging behind. My mental picture is that it might be May or so of next year before you get your gasket
b) Once we have 50 nominations, for those who express an interest, you get a month to pony up the funds to me. There is always one or two people who don't bother paying, which I guess is human nature.
c) I'll place the order, and AA Gaskets will let us know the timing. Stupid me normally pays AA Gaskets as soon as we have the 50 people (to make the process faster), so anyone who doesn't pay is at my risk.
d) When the gaskets arrive, I'll parcel them up in plywood (like last time) and send them to you. Note that it is cheaper if you combine postage with a few mates, or as a Club.

Cheers,
Harv (deputy apprentice gasket scraper).

[Harv]

One week in, 29 orders so far. Will likely need 50 to make a production run.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Post Christmas update. We are now over the 50 mark, so should be able to place an order with AA Gaskets.

To finalise this up, I am going to set a deadline: need any more orders in place prior to the end of January please. I will then use that number to make the order.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Slight hiccup with the gaskets.

With the nominations now closed, I got hold of AA Gaskets to place the order. Unfortunately, AA Gaskets has ceased manufacturing about 18 months ago and sold off all their gear. I still own the tooling, and they were a little surprised that no one had contacted me to send the tooling to me. They are now trying to locate the gear.

Looks like I need to find a new manufacturer. Have opened conversations with a number of locals, and it is looking good so far. Will send a sample to one of them when I get home, and keep you all in the loop as we go. This may change pricing, so will let you know and can understand if the new pricing is not OK for you (no idea yet if it will be more or less expensive).

Apologies for the delay.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Update. Have found a manufacturer willing to make the gaskets.

Indicative pricing is $120, say $150 with freight and packing. Will finalise that number in coming weeks and check again that those who have nominated and still want to proceed. Recognise it is twice as expensive as it used to be, and some people will not be comfortable. It is OK to opt out - no harm, no foul.

My own mental picture says it has been five years since we started this gasket caper, and global prices have gone up. We have also had a pandemic in the middle of it which has shaken all kinds of stuff up in various supply chains. Local manufacturers like AA Gaskets continue to close down, leaving only the little bespoke gasket mobs. They are not set up to bang out 100 gaskets in an afternoon, so prices are higher.

The manufacturer is making up four sample gaskets for me. Will take a look at the quality before we go any further.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Ladies and gents,

My sincere apologies for the delay in update. With all my chasing, I have only been able to find one Australian company who can manufacture small runs of gaskets. There are several places that can do copper, but very, very few that can do the steel and composite gaskets we need. Most people will not want to play with copper gaskets.

The local company makes their gaskets in two ways. For unique jobs (one or two gaskets for oddball engines) they are hand made. This is not cheap. For medium size jobs (like our order of 50 or so gaskets) they use an overseas manufacturer. The local mob now have a quote from their overseas manufacturer ($128.83 + GST), and a batch size (100 gaskets). It's slow to progress as the local bloke does this as a side-hustle, and the overseas manufacturer normally does very large production runs.

I think I can still make this work.

Plan for now is for the overseas manufacturer to quote on and then make some test samples. I'll check these for quality, the same as I did with the AA Gaskets test samples many years ago. If all is OK, I will proceed with an order. For those that want them, I will on-sell them at cost (same as I did with the last 3 AA Gaskets runs). I suspect I will have more than a few leftovers, and will stash them away. History has shown that about once every two months someone gets in touch wanting one of these gaskets (its a curse). This should let me answer those queries for a few years until we need another run.

Please bear with me as I work through this. I understand that some people will no longer want their gaskets - all good, no harm, no foul.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Called the gentleman who is supplying the gaskets last Friday. His overseas supplier had been unresponsive (for weeks) about the cost of making some test pieces. Have given the go-ahead to make the test pieces anyway... my risk on the cost.

Once I get the test pieces and confirm they look like they should, I will finalise the order and get 100 in. Should be plenty of spares for the latecomers.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

We are making steady progress on the improved cooling gaskets. The test pieces arrived last night, and they look good. I have asked for a final pricing for a batch of 100, and provided it is reasonable I will give the go-ahead for the manufacturing to start. My risk on the cost.

Once I know the final pricing (including postage to you) and timing, then I will update this thread and ask for final nominations. Some people will still want them, some will pull out, and some newcomers will ask for them. All good.

Cheers,
Harv

[Harv]

Ladies and Gents,

An update, and offer, for the improved cooling gaskets.

• The background and technical testing for the gaskets is here: http://forum.fefcholden.club/index.php?topic=26399.0. Subsequent road testing of the gaskets has shown that they work as per the testing.
• I have made three batches of these gaskets previously via AA Gaskets. As they no longer manufacture, I am changing manufacturing to Gasket Solutions.
• If you order one of these gaskets, there is no warranty at all – non from Gasket Solutions, and none from me. You take your own risk that the gasket does not fail and/or lead to other damage.
• Your gasket(s) come packed between two pieces of 7mm ply, and wrapped fully in packing tape. I include a copy of the NASCO instruction sheet and a warning sheet (so you don’t put them in upside down Miss Jane).
• The cost breakdown of the gaskets is as below:
Supply of a gasket to me: $137.50
Plywood packaging to send it to you: $5.50
Postage to you: $25.00 (I know postage will vary but I don’t have the patience to bill everyone individually based on location).
Harv profit: Nil
Cost of a gasket to you: $168.00
• I’m happy to combine postage if you want more than one gasket, or band together as a club. I’m also happy for you to pick them up from me in Western Sydney without postage. So:
If you want to pick gaskets up from me, they will cost you $137.50 each, regardless of how many you want.
If you want me to mail you one gasket, it will cost you $168.00.
If you want me to mail you two gaskets, it will cost you $305.50
If you want me to mail you three gaskets, it will cost you $443
If you want me to mail you four gaskets, it will cost you $580.5
If you want me to mail you five gaskets, it will cost you $718
If you want me to mail you six gaskets, it will cost you $855.50
• I have placed an order for 100 gaskets (my risk on the cost). First in, first served. Gauging interest there should be some leftovers for the stragglers but no promises.
• Like last time, I’ll run out of gaskets by helping the stragglers, and then will have no gaskets for a while. I’ll wait until there is enough noise, and then get another batch done. I do this to help people out, and have plenty of other stuff of my own I should be doing… it could take me a year to get another batch done.
• Lead time on the gaskets is 6-8 weeks from when the order was placed. This should see me getting the gaskets on Christmas Day. Best case I get these in the mail to you in the week of the 8th of January.

So now looking for final confirmation of orders. If you want one (or more) please post again. Please also send me a PM with your username and real name and address for postage. No need to pay yet.

I will assume that no-one who put their hand up previously wants one, as they did not know the pricing/timing (i.e. if you wanted one before, please ask again). If you wanted one before and no longer do, then all OK… no harm, no foul.

I’ll hold open the orders until the end of November, then will ask for payment from December 1st. That gives me a few weeks to get organised before everyone takes a Christmas break.

Cheers,
Harv (deputy apprentice gasket scraper).

[Harv]

Bump.

Reminder please that I need your orders before the end of November. So far I have:
DougT from the FEFC forum.
Jolls from the FEFC forum (please PM me your actual name and address so I know where to send them to).
Daryl from an email who has been waiting patiently for many months.

Once we get to November 30th I will finalise the orders and ask for payment.

I recognise that this gasket is not for everyone… whilst it cools far better than a standard gasket, it is also twice the price.

Cheers,
Harv