Sealing valve covers to GN1's

[Justa6MB]

I was having trouble with my valve covers leaking - or splitting the gaskets trying to get them to stop leaking. So I've been using silicone on the valve cover gaskets every time I pull them off and reinstall them. But that has obvious disadvantages too. Are there better options? I'm using aluminum valve covers.
Thanks
D

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

you may be over tightening them.... they really dont need to be torqued down too much at all....

aaron

 

[Phoneguy]

Which valve covers and what kind of gaskets? I have TA low profile covers and use the cork style gaskets. I use a couple of dabs of silicon to hold the gasket to the cover only. Dont over tighten the bolts, very common mistake.


Edit...Aaron beat me to it...
Bryan

 

[Buick Mark]

Use the thick cork gaskets, install DRY, or use a couple dabs of RTV to hold the gasket in place as Phoneguy said

 

[BEATAV8]

also have good results with the felpro black rubber. very important to make sure the gasket has a good fit to the flat surfaces in the cover. don't want any spots where the gasket isn't sitting flat in the cover due to some overhang or something. trim gasket to make it fit nicely.

 

[trailinjake]

I had same problem. I had small breathers in both AM valve covers and PCV still in place. Installed larger breathers, removed PCV, added 3/8" hose with breather style catch can, and re-sealed valve covers like mentioned above and no problems since. After alot of reading on here, many disagree with the PCV removal. Works for my application...

 

[forzfed]

Darren, what kind of gaskets are you using? I would use the rubber/cork composite. Cork would be fine if you lived somewhere warm or the car is in a heated garage.

 

[Scott Atk]

The Felpro 1600's are a little harder to find but work well.

 

[vacuum 6]

Which valve covers and what kind of gaskets? I have TA low profile covers and use the cork style gaskets. I use a couple of dabs of silicon to hold the gasket to the cover only. Dont over tighten the bolts, very common mistake.


Edit...Aaron beat me to it...
Bryan

The TA low profile fit on GN1 heads?

 

[Phoneguy]

The TA low profile fit on GN1 heads?

Yes they fit well...

Bryan

 

[vacuum 6]

Yes they fit well...

Bryan

Interesting.

 

[Justa6MB]

Thanks for the replies guys. So I'm using cork gaskets - just a Viktor Reinz (sp?) kit. The valve covers came from FT, and as you can see they don't fit really well to the gaskets on 2 corners. Of coarse the gaskets fit perfectly to the head. But also the valve cover casting is questionable as the edges aren't real defined. I guess I could try sealing the gaskets to the valve covers and not to the heads?

 

[hemi8]

This method stopped mine from leaking (see link below), they leaked slightly for 16 years. Tried all gaskets mentioned above with no sucess, Mystic Open Gear Grease on the head side, RTV on the valvecover side, Victor gaskets from Auto Zone, No leaks.
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/fe-talk/107123-valve-cover-gasket-alternatives-cork.html
Mike

 

[trailinjake]

This method stopped mine from leaking (see link below), they leaked slightly for 16 years. Tried all gaskets mentioned above with no sucess, Mystic Open Gear Grease on the head side, RTV on the valvecover side, Victor gaskets from Auto Zone, No leaks.
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/fe-talk/107123-valve-cover-gasket-alternatives-cork.html
Mike

Never heard of that method/trick. Awesome

 

[blackgn1]

I glue my cork gaskets to the covers first. Let them dry. Then used the "the right stuff" to seal them to the heads. Zero leaks. May never get them back off but I have no plans to pull them off anyway.