Head Gasket and Mystery Part

[Joey820]

When I bought my 1976 Spider it had a complete head gasket set in the trunk. I figured that someone had told the PO that it needed a new head gasket so he bought the gaskets but never did the job. It currently has 50,000 miles and is in pretty good shape. It has always ran a little rough at idle but good at higher speeds.

Recently when taking a drive (about 25 miles) I shut the engine off and when I restarted it it was running terrible! Sounded like it was on 2 1/2 cylinders and popping through the carb. Time for a head gasket change!!

As I have never done this before I thought I would show all you experienced Spider mechanics what I have and see if you have any suggestions or hints. So far it has been pretty straightforward removing the head and it is obvious that the head gasket is shot:












Now for my mystery part. As I was moving the head around on the workbench I found this part sitting there. It looks like a spacer or something like that. I do not have a clue where it came from and I do not want to reassemble the head without it if this is a vital part:







It is hollow all the way through and looks like it has been around oil and heat. If anyone has any guesses where this might go I would love to hear them!

Thanks....

[So Cal Mark]

I'd check that head for flatness before reinstalling it. That spacer looks like it fit the smog pump pivot bolt