Thomas James Pokrefke, III wrote:
> I was sitting at a stop light today in the B admiring the nice oil smoke
> that my car puts off. Oil leaks past the tappet cover, runs down the
> block, and hits the hot exhaust pipe. 007 would be proud.
>
> I had a great idea to fix it, but its simplicity <snip>
The easiest way to justify one of those boy-racer aluminum valve covers is that
they are cast flat on the bottom where they contact the head. I use "aviation
gasket sealer" that comes in a small (plastic) tin with a brush to "glue" the
cork valve cover gasket to the valve cover. Thus the bottom of the gasket
remains porous and provides a uniform and long lasting seal on the head. Also,
removing the valve cover just takes a tap with a rawhide hammer and the cork
gasket comes off in one piece -- you don't have to replace it every time you
adjust the valves. This cost savings pays for the boy-racer valve cover in
just 20 or 30 years.
And they look cool, of course.
Before I finally parted with my money for the aluminum valve cover, I observed
that there seemed to be enough tension to hold the cover to the head. It was
the rolled lip at the bottom of the valve cover that prevented the cork gasket
from laying flat. During installation I would invariably cock some part of the
gasket and it would slide away leaving a gap. For that, I took 4 of the
smallest sheet metal screws I could find, drilled holes near each corner of the
cover and screwed the gasket in place. Again, the gasket sealer was applied
liberally to the lip of the valve cover. The screws were only about 1/8 inch
long and did not go through the gasket.
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6
"They may be ribbed for her but I bought 'em so I turned them inside out."
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