There's always someone that's quite happy with cork. That's why I asked you to
ask yourself those questions. If after 6 years, you only needed a couple of cork
gaskets and you have all the luck in the world, then sure, cork works for you
and
may just come in as the more frugal investment. I didn't have such fortune for
the first two decades of owning a TR, that's why I developed the silicone valve
cover gasket. But at Triumph meetings and the such, there's always someone
that
doesn't see the need. (Usually it's a "bah-humbug" sort of character that seems
almost bitter about my product and keeps saying with a voice that sounds like
old
man Potter, "What's wrong with cork??" "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!", etc.
) However, there is some truth in such words, for some of those people that
don't see the need, some truly get by just fine with their faithful cork.
Others, on the other hand, who turned down the gasket years ago, and hear how
those that did buy them are still using them all these years later, they start
to honestly ask themselves those questions.
And I wonder, if the gasket lasts a decade, who spent more money, the guy that
did buy the gasket or the guy that didn't? And if you have been using cork for
the last decade, the answer both financially and in terms of time/labor savings
truly does lie in honestly asking yourself those questions.
Frankly, for me, all the above isn't really the issue. For me, it's peace of
mind. I simply KNOW my valve cover gasket isn't going to fail, whether I
disturb
it or not.
And I'll close with this. Why do you think manufacturers generally don't make
gaskets like these? It's because they make more money with products that are
cheaper to make and that have shorter life spans. (Think tires, light bulbs,
etc.) I always joke with friends, "How foolish it was of me to develop a
product (with such a small market) that will probably last over a decade." At
the very least, I should have introduced some sawdust, ground cork, or something
of the such into the silicone to cause some degradation in time. Now there's a
novel idea... Make it so the silicone becomes hard and brittle in time!
Cork or Silicone? It's your call.
Humbly yours,
--Justin Wagner
P.S. I do like, "It never seems to leak badly." Hmmm... Does that mean a
little
leaking is not bad? : )
WEmery7451@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 11/13/02 10:23:52 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> jmwagner@greenheart.com writes:
>
> << How many hours would you have spent scraping off old gaskets?
> How much time would you have spent prepping new cork gaskets with
> sealants? How much oil would have ended up in the engine compartment
> and tarmac? How much time would you have spent cleaning up the mess?
> How often would your car have been laid up waiting on a new cork
> gasket? Would you have check your valves as often as you did, if you
> had to fear that your cork gasket wouldn't survive the inspection? >>
>
> Do a lot of you FOTers do the above exercise? Just glue the stock valve
> cover gasket to the cover with gasket sealant, and put oil on the side of the
> gasket that seats against the head. You can take the cover off and put it on
> as many times as you want, and it never seem to leak badly. Wipe off most of
> the residual oil around the cover after installing it, so that a Tech
> Inspector doesn't think that it is leaking.
|