Hello, I'm currently replacing piston rings on a china quad with a gy6 150cc engine on it. I got this quad from a family friend for free and I got it running a few months ago. I noticed oil leaking from the engine and replaced all the head gaskets from a $6 kit on ebay. I 'm burning oil real bad, so I decided to replace the valve seals and piston rings to see if that would make a difference. As I pulled the combustion chamber apart for this repair, the paper head gasket broke in several spots. I don't want to order another kit just for one gasket, instead, can I just run to my local hardware/ auto store and pick up a high temp Permatex gasket maker to do the job? The gasket I'm repairing is at the bottom of the combustion chamber where it meets the rest of the engine and oil pan. I attached photos to show which gasket it is and an explanation. I know you can't do this on a car where the temperature and pressure is extremely high, but small engines run at a lower temperature. Plus, I can't imagine that this paper gasket sees much pressure because of it's location.

The reason I want to use gasket maker is because I've used it in the past on an oil pan, and I trust this more that a paper gasket from china.
Thanks for the help


This is the gasket that needs to be replaced.


The gasket faces the piston, but when the chamber is installed correctly, it lies flush with the rest of the engine.

 

I don't use "gasket goo" to replace paper gaskets, if the maker thought the joints good enough not to need paper gaskets, they would have used "goo" in the first place. However you can probably "get away with it". Incidentally, air cooled engines run hotter than car engines and there is quite a lot of pressure in the crankcase of a single cylinder engine. Modern practice is to replace the joint between head and cylinder every time. The old copper/asbestos gaskets were re-usable, modern composites are not, and embossed steel head gaskets should never be re-used, so get another $6 kit from eBay.

 

Thank you for your help and the useful information! I just ordered the gasket kit on ebay.