And there's no need. For $3 worth of paper gasket material and a few tools you can make paper gaskets that are better. It can be time consuming on tricky gaskets, but it is a) cheap b) sometimes easier than running to the dealership and having to order one c) something you can do inside and late at night d) ALWAYS better than using RTV.
To get started, you need a roll of gasket material. Check the auto parts store, a roll will do several engines. Scissors, an exacto knife, an sharp #2 pencil, and maybe a hole punch and paper clamps are all you need.
For this, I needed an intake gasket set. First trace. The pen did a poor job on the holes, but you can see the pencil.
Then cut it out and punch the holes.
Now, how to clearance the center hole? In this case, clamp the gasket to the intake manifold and cut it out with the exacto. Also a good time to trim those paper punch hole and line them up.
I made two of these, then realized that the bottom one needed to clear around the reed valve. Just clearance the hole the rest of the way using the exacto, checking fit as you remove material.
All done. I made an extra just in case (3 total), whole thing took 15 minutes. And no RTV seal.
Other ways to do this/things to keep in mind:
- If you can punch the holes and squish the gasket, you can use the squish marks to cut to for complex/thin gaskets that are harder to cut.
- If you have several engines to do, you can buy one factory gasket and trace/copy it quickly.
- For some things, gasket thickness and squish thickness are critical. Base gaskets are a good example. When using the material in these cases, you should doublecheck your running clearances and/or verify gasket thickness is the same. For instance, running a thinner base gasket will increase compression by lowering the jug relative to the piston.
- Tip from Berreta22: you used clips to hold the gasket in place...May I suggest that since you poke the holes out for the bolts that you use the bolts through the hole to hold the gasket in place? This virtually keeps the gasket from potentially moving around as you make cuts for other holes.
- Tip from Berreta22: If you empty gun shells they make perfect punches for holes...just make sure they are empty unless you wanna end your life! Certain gauges are are certain sizes.
- Harbour Freight also sells gauged punches for putting holes in gaskets.
Have fun. PM me if you have anything else to add.