Valve Cover Gasket Question (yes, another)
The picture below explains the massive leak - must have caught the the gasket on the rockers trying to shoe horn the cover into place.
Well the chrome stamped covers were ****. The gasket surface wasn't nearly wide enough for the gasket. Must be china crap as it was also too short for the gasket - the same gasket that fit perfectly in the Mopar cast covers.
Avoiding tearing up the new gasket:
In the engine bay I moved everything that was in my way - heater hoses, distributor, coil wire, etc. and held them out of the way with bungee cords.
With an unobstructed work area I first glued the gasket to the cover (continuous bead after cleaning cover surface completly to metal) and then applied weight to it as I had read in another thread. I let it cure completly and cleaned out the holes where some rtv had pushed into.
With everthing out of my way i was easily able to place the VC onto the head without banging it around - letting the rtv cure helped as well since lite bumping won't move it like the picture below.
I have the screws all started and run down to the point they hit the cover.
Now I'm paranoid about how much to tighen the bolts, both initially and after a short test drive recheck. I can't get a torque wrench to the back bolt without using a universal, which I have heard will throw off the torque reading. I'm a typical 'over-tighener' which I know needs to be avoided. So, how tight is tight enough?
I guess we'll see!
Verdict to follow......
The picture below explains the massive leak - must have caught the the gasket on the rockers trying to shoe horn the cover into place.
Well the chrome stamped covers were ****. The gasket surface wasn't nearly wide enough for the gasket. Must be china crap as it was also too short for the gasket - the same gasket that fit perfectly in the Mopar cast covers.
Avoiding tearing up the new gasket:
In the engine bay I moved everything that was in my way - heater hoses, distributor, coil wire, etc. and held them out of the way with bungee cords.
With an unobstructed work area I first glued the gasket to the cover (continuous bead after cleaning cover surface completly to metal) and then applied weight to it as I had read in another thread. I let it cure completly and cleaned out the holes where some rtv had pushed into.
With everthing out of my way i was easily able to place the VC onto the head without banging it around - letting the rtv cure helped as well since lite bumping won't move it like the picture below.
I have the screws all started and run down to the point they hit the cover.
Now I'm paranoid about how much to tighen the bolts, both initially and after a short test drive recheck. I can't get a torque wrench to the back bolt without using a universal, which I have heard will throw off the torque reading. I'm a typical 'over-tighener' which I know needs to be avoided. So, how tight is tight enough?
I guess we'll see!
Verdict to follow......