Hi Tyss
Original ONLY can go one way.
And the side of the ridge stay faced down.
THIS is what I wanted to know. The completely smooth side goes up, the side with the slight ridge goes down.
I really don't think it matters, certainly not in these engines.
The ridge is there to provide an extra good seal between the cylinder barrel and the head, as it has to contain the combustion gases (it's called the fire ring). The rest of the gasket only has to hold back water. It's been a while since I looked at a Lister CS head, but IIRC it's basically completely flat, with holes for the combustion chamber and valves. So it'll squidge down extra hard around the ring whichever way up the ring is. It goes without saying, I hope, that both the top of the barrel and the face of the head must be absolutely spotlessly clean and smooth and flat to within a couple of thou (0.002"), otherwise you'll not make a good seal. There's no good reason not to use a little gasket sealant around the waterways, just make sure you go the right side of the bolts...
Interesting thread here:
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?p=76638Apparently the fire ring can, in fact, indent the head (although that being a Ford forum, I don't know if they're talking about aluminium or cast iron), their recommendation is fire ring up, because it's easier to resurface the head if it gets dented. Probably also true of a Lister; but also, probably not a problem for a 6hp lazy diesel.
Of course, if one had a 12/2, one could do the experiment by installing the gaskets opposite ways up on each cylinder, and trying it out. Should anyone wish to ship me a 12/2, I will sacrifice the time to do the experiment, in the interests of science, obviously
Cheers,
Ade.