Hard to find Gaskets

[lrock]

a bit misleading. but as these cars get older and parts are harder to find and i needed a vvt solenoid gasket (yes, i know theyre still currently available) i was curious if one could easily cut complex shapes out themselves from gasket sheet at home using a cricut (or silhouette or whatever brand your wife/gf might have) cutter.

the answer is, yes, quite easily

also, i know this needs a piece of wire cloth over the one hole, i just dont have the right size mesh at the moment

[abscate]

Very neat! This is good to know fir the 1999 2000 model year only gaskets for intake and exhaust

30731212

Still available now, good stocking stuffers to hit $50 free shipping at FCP

[crasbe]

If there is a gasket available or a flat surface, I usually put it on a flat bed scanner and put Millimeter paper behind it. Then it's easy to scale and recreate in CAD and you can cut it out with a laser cutter or at least have an easy template to work with:

This is a screenshot of what the scan looks like and the reconstructed part:

Bild_2026-01-30_160334388.png (1.92 MiB) Viewed 198 times

And this is the result:
https://www.printables.com/model/145326 ... 6170520280

Many hackerspaces or makerspaces have laser cutters available and some paper gasket material is laser safe.

[volvolugnut]

I have cut quite a few gaskets. For holes buy a hole punch kit from Harbor Freight. Use hardwood backing when punching the holes. A box cutter with sharp blade can do the larger profiles. Work slow and careful.
If you have a case iron mating surface with a sharp edge, you can sometimes cut the gasket using a ball peen hammer tapping around the edges.
Bulk Gasket material is available from auto parts stores. You are out of luck if you have a metal reinforced gasket.
volvolugnut

[lrock]

I have cut quite a few gaskets. For holes buy a hole punch kit from Harbor Freight. Use hardwood backing when punching the holes. A box cutter with sharp blade can do the larger profiles. Work slow and careful.
If you have a case iron mating surface with a sharp edge, you can sometimes cut the gasket using a ball peen hammer tapping around the edges.
Bulk Gasket material is available from auto parts stores. You are out of luck if you have a metal reinforced gasket.
volvolugnut

i cut the one above on a cricut, it's basicly a 2 axis cnc cutter, the one i had access to has a 24" X axis and an infinite Y axis, it cut the vvt gasket (rubber/paper type gasket .7mm thick) in 4 passes, probably could have done it in 3, but the amount of time difference would be negligible. if i needed a metal reinforced one i would likely get a fiber or diode laser head for one of my 3d printers and use that instead.
manually is fine, but i'd really rather not if i don't have to.

[lrock]

If there is a gasket available or a flat surface, I usually put it on a flat bed scanner and put Millimeter paper behind it. Then it's easy to scale and recreate in CAD and you can cut it out with a laser cutter or at least have an easy template to work with:
Many hackerspaces or makerspaces have laser cutters available and some paper gasket material is laser safe.

the cricut ended up working good for me.

also, thanks for the cam seal drifts, i printed them out 2 weeks ago when i replaced all my seals. they worked great!