[fxbill]

I agree completely...new ones should be used if possible, but if not...then the annealing works fine. It makes them softer than they originally were and they will compress more than the first time giving them a good seal. Most are ribbed, but flat ones, if soft, will seal great too. This is actually an old dirt bike trick when head gaskets were solid copper. They could be reused 5 or 6 times without incident. Although the pressure was less than with brakes the compression on a brake seal washer is a lot greater in a smaller area than with a head gasket. I've had to do it several times in years past...never once with a leak afterwards.