Scan 'em if you got 'em - VF500F Head Gasket Patterns

The athena set worked out fine for me, nwo I think I'm going to have to get another set due to my latest issues with this thing. I'm not feeling very optimistic right now.

 

FWIW- from the Vesrah online catalog

HG-1057 12251-MJ8-000
HG-1057 12251-MJ8-010
HG-1057 12251-MJ8-020
HG-1058 12252-MJ8-000
HG-1058 12252-MJ8-010
HG-1058 12252-MJ8-020
Street Cylinder Head Gasket HONDA

Model Year Code Name Year Indiv No. Q'ty Indiv No. Q'ty
VF500F Interceptor 84-86 HG-1057 Pcs HG-1058 Pcs


I need a rear head gasket for my 86, but it sure doesn't look like Vesrah differentiates between the years. It would also be nice to find a source that sells the head gasket separately from a whole kit.

 

Thank you for the post.

I wrote a Vesrah a little while back. The tech wrote that they offer specific kits for the '85 and the '86 but oddly not for the '84.

I did not realize that the head gaskets patterns that they are using are all the same...perhaps the '86 pattern is considered the best (most advanced) of the lot?

Here are the part numbers that I have:

'85 | gasket set - complete | part no. VG-1070
'86 | gasket set - complete | part no. VG-1071

Agreed on individual head gaskets...haven't found a source for these - other than the copper gaskets which are not compatible.

 

I bought an Athena set once..... the first couple of parts I pulled out didn't fit at all so I threw it away. I was afraid to use the head gaskets!

I finally found those head gasket patterns, not sure how much help they will be though:

VF500F Front:


VF500F Rear:


And in case anyone cares, the VF1100, not sure if it's the S or C model:

 

For reference here is the 'evolved' front head gasket - for all years, (12251-MJ8-020 is superseded by 12251-MJ8-306)

 

Yep, just like the one in post #4.

I'd still like to hear from an '80's Honda engineer to confirm my assumption of the modified water flow characteristics that this revision results in (post #67).

 

Agreed, it would be great to get the 411 on why they changed the patterns.

It is interesting to note that the Athena set is the 'non-evolved' pattern. I wonder which pattern the Vesrah kit uses.

 

Sigh. The surfaces were not planed. Head surface was cleaned up by the mechanic that lapped the valves. He showed me the attachment that he used but I can't recall what it like. I cleaned up the mating surface by hand with emery cloth, etc. Both looked good to the eye, but certainly a machined surface would have given me a better chance. Live and learn. On the flip side, I had the joy of doing a head removal and reassembly and everything that goes with it a second time!

 

Thanks for this!!

 

Glad this thread is of help. Are you planning a rebuild?

 

I was able to order a complete top end gasket kit for my '86 from Service Honda. It seems to me that Honda just chooses not to sell them separately.

 

Good deal, glad you were able to source this. If I could ask, could you take a few photos of the OEM '86 top end gasket kit (head gaskets in particular) and post here for reference? Thx!

 

I thought it was only the 84-85 gasket sets that were NLA, or was it the 86's too?

Let's not forget how Honda's parts system works: just because one guy gets a part doesn't mean they are "available".

 

Can't speak to the '86 but I do know the '84 and '85 kits are NLA.

From the intel in this thread it appears that the '86 head gasket can be used on the earlier '84 and '85 engines though Honda does not show this in their parts fiche.

From my own experience it seems like Honda if very diligent with their OEM part numbering system so I am not sure why they would not list the '86 head gaskets as superseding the earlier style.

On a positive note, Gasket Kits A and B (both NLA for the '84 and '85) do come up on eBay now and again for very reasonable prices, often in the $20 - $30 range. With a little patience you can fill up the parts bin with NOS spares but it takes time.

One of the caveats of owning a 25 year old bike.

 

Ok, so I ordered the Athena set from PartsNMore, and so far have been using them successfully. I think the reason I asked in my original New Member post about the reduced size of the cooling channel slots, was due to the fact that Athena used the 'non-evolved' design compared to what was on mine originally. I will have to look closer to see if they are OEM or not... is that indicated by the R or J or M stamps on the gaskets?

I'll scan the old gaskets when I get home tonight and upload tonight or tomorrow sometime. In the mean time, I have decent pictures of the underside of the heads on my bike. I'm also uploading the picture of the failed rear head gasket hanging on the wall, as well as a closeup of the failure point.

Front head:


Rear head:


Failed gasket:


Close-up of failure point:

 

let's see if we can breathe some life back into this very interesting but fizzled out thread... I just got my first blown head gasket, probably due to some very old coolant eating away at either my head or gasket ring or both. I bought a set from England, made in Japan by "royal industries" they seem to be pretty readily available like this from a couple different European vendors. The strange thing is that they sent me 4 head gaskets, 1 rear and 3 front, weird right? I hope that doesn't imply something like "if the first set don't work, just try the other ones we sent you"... And from what I can see I got the "unevolved, unimproved, first-generation, 1984 type" whatever the so-called evolution was in eliminating some of the flow through the gasket, this one seems not so blocked from looking over the images in the previous posts from about 3 or 4 years ago. Anyway, I'll forge ahead, wish me luck and I will hope to report a successful result...because if you never hear from me again...it probably means that things didn't turn out very well, which I must assume is what happened with the last entry of this very interesting and informative thread. Again!...Wish me luck! God knows I'll need it trying to keep my 500 from its inevitable and certain demise.

 

if by some off chance you're still out there... did you ever get the bike back together and running again with the other OEM style gaskets after the copper head gasket debacle?

 

.. my poor beast is now apart, nothing jumped out at me other than a dark spot on the left rear gasket along with a tiny rust spot on the outside of the cylnder wall. It would only leak at high speed/pressure soo...who knows. View attachment 32404 The gaskets were really glued hard to the heads and got all distorted when I ripped them away. Anyway, I have about a dozen head gaskets and I'm using some with the material labeled NI-2098, we'll see how it goes, hopefully all valve timing/sprocket alignment/tensioner install goes fine, maybe I should have just securely tied the sprockets to the chains, removed the sprocket bolts and pulled the cams out, oh well, next time maybe. Removing the engine was actually pretty easy, putting it back in might be another story though. View attachment 32402 View attachment 32403 ... I realize I'm pretty much just talking to myself, but you never know, somebody out there might still have one of these and could use the info.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/41427-1986-Honda-Vf-500-F-service-repair-manual

 

I know I had the head gasket patterns in dxf format at one time, but it would appear those were lost on an old computer somewhere. If get something please let us know!