Fel-Pro PermaDry Plus Valve Cover Gaskets?

R

RonKoron

New Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
After 21 years, my beloved GN is seeping oil out of the back of the valve cover gaskets. Did I hear someone say the Mobil I synthetic oil will cause problems with cork gaskets?

Anyway, my mechanic wants to use Fel-Pro PermaDry Plus rubber gaskets with a metal insert? He said that these would be the best to use. He wants $69.95 for the gaskets and $350 for the labor?:frown:

Both the Kirbans and Posten catalogs recommend replacing with original cork type gaskets.

Has anyone else used the PermaDry Plus gaskets? Are they worth the extra cost? Is changing the valve cover gaskets that much labor?

I am not very mechanically inclined, so can a novice like me change the valve covers gaskets without fsck'ng something up. I do have access to an Air Force Base Auto Hobby shop.

P.S. Is there anything, besides chrome-plating, that I could do to the valve covers to clean/dress them up?

Thanx...
 
The perma-dry gaskets are awesome. A search will give you some info. They cost about $20-$30 at autozone and if I was you I'd get a written labor estimate from this mechanic and either give it to the BBB or shove it up his you know what. Not only is he trying to bend you over for the parts but that's an absolutely ridiculous amount of labor to change valve cover gaskets.

Edit: If you know almost nothing about cars and you get a manual and follow the directions you should be able to do it very easily yourself.
 
Run far and run fast using his quote as a flaming torch to light the way. That is a cake job that would take me no more than an hour, and I work ssllooowww. Not sure where he gets off charging you 100% markup on the parts and $350 for the labor.
 
I agree..i just bought those gaskets at Advance for $26 bucks..took 2 days to get but who cares...ez enough job once I can find a spare hour
 
Wow that's a rip off!

Stay away from that guy. He'll probably beat the crap out of your car on top of hosing you for parts and labor!

But the permadry gaskets look like they would work fine.
 
Fel Pro Perma Dry Plus Valve Cover Gskts

I agree with you all....these are awesome gskts......I paid around $57. here in Canada for them (had to be ord'd in)...but they went in like a dream & no leaks.....I'm also running Mobil 1 Synthetic and have had no issues with them.

They may cost more than cork, but keep in mind these can be re-used many times & cannot be crushed due to their design.

My son & I were able to install these on some Buick Motorsport Valve covers. I'm sure it didn't take us more than 1-2 hours in total...that's because we had to be very careful scrapping off parts of the original cork gskt which was stuck on the heads....didn't want any pcs falling into oil passages in the heads.

A pretty straight forward install....I'd give it a go.....you can do it...and use the money you saved for some other buick performance parts.

Good Luck!
Dave
 
Where are you? I'm sure there's a board member or two in your area who would be more than happy to come over and drink your beverages while they watch you work and give helpful pointers :). The driver's side is easy so do that one first to build your confidence. It's tricky on the passenger side to maneuver the cover between the a/c box and the heater pipes and you will be sure to knock the gasket out of place at least once, so just practice a couple of times getting the cover on and off before you put the new gasket in place. A little patience here helps a lot.
 
RonKoron said:
Anyway, my mechanic wants to use Fel-Pro PermaDry Plus rubber gaskets with a metal insert? He said that these would be the best to use. He wants $69.95 for the gaskets and $350 for the labor?:frown:
Click to expand...


I'll do it for half that price...parts included!;)
 
If you want to stop by my house with a 30 pack of Natural Light and the gaskets I'll do it. :biggrin: I guess that puts my labor at about $15 for the job.:cool:
 
That clown is wanting to hose you but good, D side easy, P side just a little tougher, might need you guys correct but 1" open end wrench for the hard line water pipe to loosen and rotate out of the way and cover comes off and then torque to spec.

Ron
 
LOL. If I wait long enough, somebody will offer to pay me for them to do it! :)

Actually, my trainer from the gym is a big GM fanatic and he offered to help me do it. He doesn't have experience with GNs per say, but I trust his opinion. He thinks we'll have to undo the hoses to the heater core, which means I'll have to replace those too.

I think I am going to have the original valve covers powdercoated with a brushed aluminum look and a clear coat protectant. Supposed to be shiny, but not reflective like chrome. Me thinks that will look real good.

L8R M8s

Ron from Dayton, OH
 
Are these things TA low-po compatable?

Ron, shoot me a PM with your stuff. My fiance lives in Dayton and I was stationed there for 4yrs so I'm up there frequently. Maybe we can hit the BPG at National Trails as a crew.
 
I take it back...tried to install the Fel pro's yesterday..they don't seem to fit..after muscling the driver's side cover off (the one they said was easier) i cleaned it up and tried to put the gasket on the cover...no go...they have these metal tabs inside the gasket that stop the gasket from staying inside the cover...i tried everything...walked away from it pissed off..went back to it today after taking the advice of someone who knows better and picked up the cork ones from GM, used some weatherstrip adhesive like they said to hold the gasket in place and did the d/s no problem...passenger side was actually easier..go figure...i'm going to return the fel pro's if they take them back...waste of time and money..at least for me...BTW I have stock valve covers
 
I have them and they flat work just clean the surfaces real good of all old gasket material and use brake clean on both mating surfaces and slap em on dry.
No leaks and I have pulled the driver side and reinstalled twice and its still leak free.
Do they make a perma dry rear main..LOL
 
You might have them reversed or 180 degrees out, the tabs are different
widths from the top and bottom, they look so close as to be the same distance apart but are not, that could be your problem.

Ron
 
do u have stock valve covers? the metal lips on the inside of the gaskets kept them from staying in the covers...big gaps on either side...trust me I wanted them to work
 
ronbuick said:
You might have them reversed or 180 degrees out, the tabs are different
widths from the top and bottom, they look so close as to be the same distance apart but are not, that could be your problem.

Ron
Click to expand...
i tried them every way possible... i was scratching my head forever...the cork ones are thicker on one side corresponding with the vlave cover...i couldn't make them work to save my life
 
The cork ones I had to trim on the corners with a exacto knife as they were too wide to fit inside the VC.

Ron
 
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