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And old fashion mechanic told me last week that on this small engines, one could use high temp (1200 degree) paint to reseal headgaskets. Not one with a big gash in it. But if it had a small crack in it, he said the the high temp paint will work fine.

Has anyone tried this, heard about this or know if it's bad advise?

If the steel ring around the cylinder is scratched/cracked, it's a no go. But for old heads or a not too perfect block deck I use a coat of aluminum paint on the gasket, put it together while still tacky.

These sorts of fixes belong in the 20's, as in 1920 from a time when materials were overly expensive and manpower was so cheap as being almost free.
From a time when a 50 hour service involved removing the head & barrels scraping the carbon off the piston & head then removing the blow by varnish from the ring grooves.
Never a good idea to any sort of coating on a pressure vessel gasket.
All you do is create a path of low resistance for the pressure to leak out from

...could use high temp (1200 degree) paint to reseal headgaskets...

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Are gaskets really so expensive that you need to do this???
How much is high temp paint now-a-days?

Russ2251 said:

Are gaskets really so expensive that you need to do this???
How much is high temp paint now-a-days?

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No, but they're always 4 days before I can get one. Amazons two day shipping is always 2 days late. My gig is buying used, fixing and re-selling. My main traffic is friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. If I order one on Friday, it's next week before I can get it in. Was looking to shave a little time off of that.

That doesn't sound like much of a "fix." One of my old bosses called things like that "a quick lick and a promise."

"...These sorts of fixes belong in the 20's...." No,they don't...several manufacturers of 2 cycle engines,including Kawasaki and Yamaha used the procedure of prepping their copper head gaskets for installation by spraying them with aerosol silver enamel paint,allowing it to dry prior to assembly. This technique was/is used with both copper and aluminum gaskets.

When was the last time you saw a solid copper / aluminium head gasket on a lawnmower engine ???????
They are just about universally jointing board with an aluminium fire ring
So painting them TO REPAIR A DAMAGED SECTION went out with WWII.
Lots of vintage bike owners use Copper Coat on head gaskets because they do not know how to prepare the surface and how rough it should be so that the gasket can be locked in.

PTmowerMech said:

No, but they're always 4 days before I can get one. Amazons two day shipping is always 2 days late. My gig is buying used, fixing and re-selling. My main traffic is friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. If I order one on Friday, it's next week before I can get it in. Was looking to shave a little time off of that.

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using bodge techniques like this will do you a massive disservice in the long run.
When they fail you will either get the reputation of being dodegy or inempt .
In the long term, happy customers who recommend you to others are worth a fortune.
Angry customer who fell you duped them into buying a shite heap mower will seek retubution via social media and you will be sunk.