95 sho mtx valve cover gaskets replacement how to??

[Dannyboy puckett]

95 sho mtx. What is the procedure for doing valve cover gaskets? I know I need to remove intake. Front valve cover looks easy enough to do.but what do I need to do/remove to replace rear valve cover gasket? Any tips,tricks would be appreciated.thanks so much.pics/videos would also be very much appreciated.

 

[zoomlater]

SHO Phoenix Project

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

SHO Phoenix Project

Thank you!!

 

[Irish Pride]

At the very least you need to undo the fuel lines from the rear cover and zip tie them out of the way as best as possible. I find it's better to just disconnect the fuel lines from the rails and push them off to the side. That gives you all the room you need to do the rear. Don't torque the valve cover bolts. They only go in so far. When they stop turning they are done. Once you install the new gaskets you will want to go around to every bolt and double check they are all the way flush. Don't attempt to remove the valve cover bolts unless you are absolutely sure the Allen bit is all the way inserted. It's very easy to strip the bolts if you don't seat the bit all the way. Good luck!

-Chad

 

[luigisho]

Agree 100% above with valve cover bolts. All the bolts are very soft aluminum and will shear easily from over tightening. You should also get you head way back there when you are replacing the rear valve cover gasket. It's hard to see and you don't want it to roll on itself or not sit flush and have to take everything apart twice or more.
Get some heat sink paste for the back of the DIS module at the left side of the intake.

Budget 2-3x more time than you think for a 1st run learning curve. Also, zip lock bags and sticky tags always help with keeping stuff together and eliminating guesswork with reassembly.
Careful with hoses and whatever else due to age and so many heat cycles. You can do this. Good luck!

 

[BaySHO Performance]

There's a bunch of connectors on a metal plate behind the intake. Disconnect the large grey and black connector at the top. This will give you the ability to lever the harness out of the way to get at the bottom bolt on the passenger side intake support bracket to loosen it.

You will find the heater hoses are in the way. They will need to be disconnected. You might also have to remove the small bracket you see there.

When you take the covers off, observe that there is gasket sealer in all the corners on the passenger end. Duplicate that when reassembling, and use gasket sealer at the top and bottom of the spark plug tube seals.

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

At the very least you need to undo the fuel lines from the rear cover and zip tie them out of the way as best as possible. I find it's better to just disconnect the fuel lines from the rails and push them off to the side. That gives you all the room you need to do the rear. Don't torque the valve cover bolts. They only go in so far. When they stop turning they are done. Once you install the new gaskets you will want to go around to every bolt and double check they are all the way flush. Don't attempt to remove the valve cover bolts unless you are absolutely sure the Allen bit is all the way inserted. It's very easy to strip the bolts if you don't seat the bit all the way. Good luck!

-Chad

Thanks alot chad.i appreciate your vast knowledge on these cars.im finally gonna do these tomorrow,after months of research because I don't want to screw up.

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

Agree 100% above with valve cover bolts. All the bolts are very soft aluminum and will shear easily from over tightening. You should also get you head way back there when you are replacing the rear valve cover gasket. It's hard to see and you don't want it to roll on itself or not sit flush and have to take everything apart twice or more.
Get some heat sink paste for the back of the DIS module at the left side of the intake.

Budget 2-3x more time than you think for a 1st run learning curve. Also, zip lock bags and sticky tags always help with keeping stuff together and eliminating guesswork with reassembly.
Careful with hoses and whatever else due to age and so many heat cycles. You can do this. Good luck!

Thank you so much luigisho. I'm definitely thankful for your great knowledge as well.also your extremely important words of encouragement! That means a lot, especially when someone is a little nervous on this job.(me,lol) thanks alot man!!

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

There's a bunch of connectors on a metal plate behind the intake. Disconnect the large grey and black connector at the top. This will give you the ability to lever the harness out of the way to get at the bottom bolt on the passenger side intake support bracket to loosen it.

You will find the heater hoses are in the way. They will need to be disconnected. You might also have to remove the small bracket you see there.

When you take the covers off, observe that there is gasket sealer in all the corners on the passenger end. Duplicate that when reassembling, and use gasket sealer at the top and bottom of the spark plug tube seals.

Definitely love this tip on observing where gasket sealer is.im gonna take pics of where old remnants where.thank you Bayshore!!

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

Definitely love this tip on observing where gasket sealer is.im gonna take pics of where old remnants where.thank you Bayshore!!

Baysho!!

 

[luigisho]

Do you have a shop manual? It is always nice to have a reference on hand. This is the perfect time to attack this. The weather is not as hot.
here is an upper 60k service write up with pictures. You do not need to do the valve gap adjustment part. If you skip this service the rest of the entire procedure is documented for good reference. 2 web pages of procedure and a parts list page is also linked here. Put this webite in a folder to go back to later

SHO Phoenix Project

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

Do you have a shop manual? It is always nice to have a reference on hand. This is the perfect time to attack this. The weather is not as hot.
here is an upper 60k service write up with pictures. You do not need to do the valve gap adjustment part. If you skip this service the rest of the entire procedure is documented for good reference. 2 web pages of procedure and a parts list page is also linked here. Put this webite in a folder to go back to later

SHO Phoenix Project

Thanks luigisho. I got front valve cover done,now I'm on to doing rear.that one looks aggrivating. I'm going to look at the link you shared with me thank you. I'm worried about back brackets to intake,as far as alignment.because if I tighten the bottom bolts I won't be able to adjust allignment for top bolts.anyhow thanks alot man.i really appreciate it.

 

[BaySHO Performance]

You have to remove the rear brackets entirely to get the valve cover off.

 

[luigisho]

Careful with not breaking off the bolts back there. Drilling them out at an angle close to the firewall is a pain in the A$$. WIth the brackets that's the easiest part except with stuff falling into the wherever dimension. Just keep everything loose enough to adjust until it's all lined up for re install. Also if you took the intake off as 1 piece, loosen the rubber couplers during reinstall. The thing can shift a little and not line up flush against the head. If the couplers are a little loose no problemo.

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

Careful with not breaking off the bolts back there. Drilling them out at an angle close to the firewall is a pain in the A$$. WIth the brackets that's the easiest part except with stuff falling into the wherever dimension. Just keep everything loose enough to adjust until it's all lined up for re install. Also if you took the intake off as 1 piece, loosen the rubber couplers during reinstall. The thing can shift a little and not line up flush against the head. If the couplers are a little loose no problemo.

Thanks for your help.yup I broke a bolt in rear head.am I screwed now??? Uggghhhh.

 

[luigisho]

No it's just harder to get a good eye and angle on it. I had to do it, you can do it. Which bolt? Tighten snug not hard-core tight. This isn't steel or iron. Every fastener and threaded hole is softer aluminum.

Can't use hard-core as 1 word on here. The censor program is so stupid

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

No it's just harder to get a good eye and angle on it. I had to do it, you can do it. Which bolt? Tighten snug not hard-core tight. This isn't steel or iron. Every fastener and threaded hole is softer aluminum.

Can't use hard-core as 1 word on here. The censor program is so stupid

Yeh the censor thing always baffled me. So it's I believe one on the "upper" part of valve cover.closer to intake manifold side. In middle of valve cover. When it broke I just quit and haven't touched it in two days. I think I'm going to pull cover off and look to see how bad it broke in head. Here is the broken bolt. What should I do to remove it??

 

[luigisho]

yeah see if there is some sticking out above the hole to get a pair of vice grips on and twist out. Otherwise you will have to try and drill it out. You can use a center punch so the bit won't walk around on you while you try and drill into the center. Then use a bolt extractor. Last time I did that-- I had to extract it and the threaded hole go mucked up and I had to helicoil the hole. You need an extra bolt or a few (used ones). Also the valve cover round seal around each bolt won't work to keep oil from leaking without being held in place by that bolt.
You are not the first. Many of us have had to deal with this. Hence the advice up front about aluminum fasteners. Good luck. You can do this.

 

[BaySHO Performance]

M6 x 1 helicoil insert needed.

 

[Dannyboy puckett]

yeah see if there is some sticking out above the hole to get a pair of vice grips on and twist out. Otherwise you will have to try and drill it out. You can use a center punch so the bit won't walk around on you while you try and drill into the center. Then use a bolt extractor. Last time I did that-- I had to extract it and the threaded hole go mucked up and I had to helicoil the hole. You need an extra bolt or a few (used ones). Also the valve cover round seal around each bolt won't work to keep oil from leaking without being held in place by that bolt.
You are not the first. Many of us have had to deal with this. Hence the advice up front about aluminum fasteners. Good luck. You can do this.

Ok.great.thats what I was hoping I could do.tap and drill,and extractor broke bolt out. Good to know.thank you so much!!!! Yeh because I noticed also on another bolt hole the threads in head got stripped up top. But that bolt hole is one that hole is hollow(goes through head,no bottom) the other bolt holes have a bottom(like if you put a skinny pick through,it would stop at bottom) so the one that stripped doesn't have a bottom.can I drill and helicoil that,with shavings going into the engine block??? Thank you so much man!!!