Gasket alternative grooving tool

[PJs]

Great Idea OlderDan! Wish I would have thought of it. I noticed you stayed a bit south of center line too which is smart in my book. Turnips are notorious leakers!! Back when I built mine I did lap all the faces but used an amazing product I found back then called Kawasaki Bond...best sealant I ever used...had a silver look/compound in it and it came apart well and cleaned up easily. Blue and Red silicone was just out then and never did have much luck with it until the formulas improved. The early KB I used is Long gone now and haven't tried the newer silicone based version...but like you say if Hylomar Blue is good enough for Rolls...it'll work for me. Haven't heard of that before but will have a look for it over here.

Had a water issue with one of the vehicles while back with a cover plate and 2 hold downs. Think its a casting port on the block, not sure and why not a freeze plug although its a machined face & bore...maybe an Option port?? Dealer said to only use Black RTV. The plate is SS with a slight return flange and the block is AL and of course it's in a PITA place to reach and clean without removing the entire front clip, but got it best I could, applied the thin coat as directed, cross torqued between the 2 nut/studs, checked...all good. About a month later the temp gauge spiked again. Checked, sure enough dripage! This time I pulled the 2 studs by hook or crook and fabbed a flat sanding tool I could get up there with...sure enough not flat and also checked the new flange plate but it was flat. This time I goobed about twice as much Black RTV to squeeze out to the edges of the plate and smoothed it to form a fillet seal to the flange. So far it's fine now about a year later.

Next Time if it happens I'm using your idea and maybe some of that Rolls stuff!

Thanks for the great share. ~PJ