valve cover gaskets

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Mar 19, 05 7:15 pm

Which are best? Cork, rubber or what have you. Any particular brand better than another? I've got mopar performance ones which I'm not very impressed with. They were far too big and took quite a bit of trimming before they would fit the covers. I though I had cured the leak I had on wednesday but its started again. Also how tight should the bolts be? My covers are original steel ones. Thanks in advance.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Mar 19, 05 7:40 pm

Shame you've got tin covers as i have reusable Cometic rocker cover gaskets but they're only suitable for ally covers as they are quite stiff and wouldn't quite work with the uneven surface of a tin cover.

The problem with a tin cover is the clamping force on the gasket isn't the same around the whole cover and thats made worse by overtightening, and over time they have to be overtightened more to get them to seal so they deform more, viscious circle really.

Lay a straight edge on the sealing surface of the cover if there's a big difference between where the holes are and the flats it's the covers and not the gaskets, cork will only squash so much before it splits

Kev · Post by **Kev** » Sat Mar 19, 05 7:46 pm

Always knock the holes back up in the tin version. Does that make sense? I'll be having some of those reusable ones for BB, Wil.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Sat Mar 19, 05 7:50 pm

let me know when you want em Kev

AllKiller · Post by **AllKiller** » Wed Mar 23, 05 8:52 pm

Ive got cork one's , only they are on ali covers, on and off the car constantly with no leaks in years, they gotta be 6 years old now

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » Wed Mar 23, 05 9:08 pm

Thanks AllKiller I think I might try the cork ones. Tweaked the bolts down a bit more the other day and the leak seems to have stopped again. I'll see what happens after a run.