Valve cover gaskets...

[Nick McCardle]

I've got cork ones in now...and they leak, a lot. Car has been coming apart a lot recently for upgrades and I have another set so I'm going to replace them. Was thinking a very light coat of Yamabond 4 on each side would be great to stop the leak. Opinions?

 

[S2V6RACER]

I use the cork ones with nothing on them. They don't leak at all and have been off/on several times. Are you sure the surfaces are flat?

 

[Nick McCardle]

I use the cork ones with nothing on them. They don't leak at all and have been off/on several times. Are you sure the surfaces are flat?

I'm going to double check when I take them off of course, but if memory serves me correct everything checked out okay before I put them on. I thought it was odd that they leak too

 

[GNAT87]

mine leaked a little so i put a light coat of black rtv on them and they sealed

 

[gossamer]

I run mine dry without any leaks too. I agree with Ted A. and make sure your surfaces are flat.

 

[Jerryl]

I had cork and recently switched to Fel-Pro PermaDry.
AWESOME gasket!

 

[2toneNV]

Jerry,

Is the perma dry the one that is a black carbon color? I bought this one and wasn't sure if I should use it or get the cork one, but the perma-dry seems pretty nice and durable.

 

[Nick Micale]

In my experience there is not "one size fits all" best valve cover gasket for the turbo Buick.

First, the are different heads, iron and alum, and they have different sealing surfaces.

Then there are MANY different valve covers that are machined different than the factory one. Also, the different brands of gaskets, even though the same material, style and composition will vary.

The different uses of cars must also be considered as street and strip has different conditions - higher boost and more frequent removal.

Installation procedures for various gaskets vary.

With all that said, here are a few "things" I have found:

The perma-dry will not seal well at high boost, and have seen many blow out and leak at the track. They also do not work well with the TA low profile VC because the way the lip is machined.

RTV and silicone do not seal gaskets, especially rubber, well over a period of time. [Remember our summer heat is MUCH hotter than almost any city area.]

Cork gaskets require a "re-torque" during installation, and after a heat cycle or 2. When installing a cork gasket, the best method I have tried is to use spray adhesive to stick the gasket to the VC.

 

[mikestertwo]

What valve covers are you using? Some of the aftermarket valve covers are notorious for leaking. A lot of them don't even machine the gasket surface on the valve cover, it's just a bare rough casting that isn't even flat. I have had to machine several sets of after market valve covers to keep them from leaking. If the casting is just rough you can probably get away with just glueing the gasket to the valve cover but if it isn't flat then your going to have to have it machined or it will always be a headache.

 

[RmvBfrFlght]

Another item to check is for interference between the valve cover outer lip and the exhaust manifold flange. The set on the GN here (which I believe are OEM Buick covers) hit the exhaust manifold flange (which are aftermarket) and would not seat down.

The bolts and all tightened up, but the cover was hitting the exhaust flange and not compressing the gasket along the bottom. Caused a lot of smoking off the headers at start up.

Found the problem by looking at the VC gasket. Nicely compressed along the top, with the compession tapering off on the sides. Then along the bottom the gasket was compressed very little. Hmm, somethings not right...

The fix was to remove the outer lip at the three areas it contacted the exhaust flange.

RemoveBeforeFlight

 

[Jerryl]

Jerry,

Is the perma dry the one that is a black carbon color? I bought this one and wasn't sure if I should use it or get the cork one, but the perma-dry seems pretty nice and durable.

It is the "light blue" seal with the metal insert.
I re-used them four times now, and still works perfect on a DD, iron heads, stock VC, medium boost level.
IMHO, a lot easier than cork (which work very well if done correctly).

In my experience there is not "one size fits all" best valve cover gasket for the turbo Buick.
........... With all that said, here are a few "things" I have found:

The perma-dry will not seal well at high boost, and have seen many blow out and leak at the track. They also do not work well with the TA low profile VC because the way the lip is machined.

Nick,
Trying to understand and further my TR edumacation.
I know the definition of “high boost” is vastly different for different people and set-ups.
Can you tell me what you mean by “High boost”?

Reason is, on my HA with stock iron heads, high boost is 14PSI , so should the Perma-Dry gaskets be OK for this boost level?
Is the “leaking” not dependant on crankcase pressure and the appropriate “venting”?

 

[turbojd]

What valve covers are you using? Some of the aftermarket valve covers are notorious for leaking. A lot of them don't even machine the gasket surface on the valve cover, it's just a bare rough casting that isn't even flat. I have had to machine several sets of after market valve covers to keep them from leaking. If the casting is just rough you can probably get away with just glueing the gasket to the valve cover but if it isn't flat then your going to have to have it machined or it will always be a headache.

I agree, when I went to put a set of those aftermarket valve covers with the turbo six on them, I thought everything went smooth, thay is until I took it for a ride and noticed all the smoke coming out from underneath the car. I am using cork gaskets and I used the "right stuff" on the gasket and valve covers to stop the leaks. I guess synthetic oil doesn' help with the leaks neither.

 

[breiter]

I run the same blue gaskets with the metal insert that "Jerryl" commented about. No problems, reused 3 times. Run 22-24 lbs of boost. I have Champion irons and run the turbo 6 valve covers from them too. This works well for me but maybe not for your setup, like Nick said. I tried cork and the solid black rubber gaskets but could not get them to seal.

 

[ungrave]

I just got a pair of the Fel-pro Perma-dry blue with steel insert valve cover gaskets and they have these tabs (steel) on them in the corners that don't allow them to fit into the stock valve covers. Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks.

Fel-Pro Part Number: VS50156T

Here's the gaskets on kragen's website:
Kragen Autoparts

You can see the tabs in the top corners in the image:

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/product_images/img/fel/vs50156t_top.jpg

 

[stickybones]

I just got a pair of the Fel-pro Perma-dry blue with steel insert valve cover gaskets and they have these tabs (steel) on them in the corners that don't allow them to fit into the stock valve covers. Anyone else have this problem?

Thanks.

Fel-Pro Part Number: VS50156T

Here's the gaskets on kragen's website:
Kragen Autoparts

You can see the tabs in the top corners in the image:

http://shop.oreillyauto.com/product_images/img/fel/vs50156t_top.jpg

I just used shears or something (a dremel maybe) to get rid of those tabs, because yes they won't fit with them there.

 

[ungrave]

Thanks! I figured that's the only solution as well. I already got the dremel out and am ready to go!