I hear about some of you using RTV to seal the plug wells.Does that mean that you just reuse the cover gasket itself?I have my polished cover i want to put on.My plug wells are fine,so if the gasket can be reused then great.Does it stick to the cover or the head usually?The cover cost me $14 for 2,so i`d hate to have to spend $75 just to mount it.
Valve cover gasket question
- Thread starter jthomas68
- Start date
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fredhurderjr
New Member
JT -
The cam cover gaskets are reuseable, providing you don't tear them when you take the covers off. There are grooves in the covers that the gasket seats in. They tend to stick to both the head & the cover, but in different places.
There are some beads of RTV on the engine-front side of the heads. simply pay attention to those amounts of RTV & the locations at the sharp points on the head. Clean them up, re-apply the RTV to those points, check how pliable the plug well seals are before re-sealing & go nutty. Use Ultra-Gray sensor safe, BTW.
If you tear one, let me know, we have some used ones kicking around.
The cam cover gaskets are reuseable, providing you don't tear them when you take the covers off. There are grooves in the covers that the gasket seats in. They tend to stick to both the head & the cover, but in different places.
There are some beads of RTV on the engine-front side of the heads. simply pay attention to those amounts of RTV & the locations at the sharp points on the head. Clean them up, re-apply the RTV to those points, check how pliable the plug well seals are before re-sealing & go nutty. Use Ultra-Gray sensor safe, BTW.
If you tear one, let me know, we have some used ones kicking around.
sdpatt
Sr. SHO Engr.
If your plug well seals were not leaking to start with, they really should be okay without the RTV. The ability of the plug well seals and valve cover seals to prevent oil leaks relys upon their ability to flex under the gentle load of the valve cover bolts. If you feel you must apply it, you should remove the seals from the valve covers and apply RTV to both faces of the seals. I had put the silicone on only the flat face once before only to have the seals leak just as bad after reinstalling them. When torqueing the valve cover bolts, use a torque wrench and be very careful to observe the 8-11 lb-ft range to protect these easy-to-snap bolts and the easy-to-strip threads in the aluminum head.
Thanks guys.Since the spark seals aren`t leaking,i think i`ll leave them dry.I see no need to use RTV if it`s not needed.And thanks for the spares info Fred.I`ll get some pics when it`s together,it`s going to be pretty!
Off Road SHO
Moderator
JT
Where did you get a set of polished valve covers for 14.00?!?!? I finally powdercoated mine because of the cost of polishing.
Tom
Where did you get a set of polished valve covers for 14.00?!?!? I finally powdercoated mine because of the cost of polishing.
Tom
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