Valve cover gasket

Updated on 2024-01-07

Skills:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Work effort:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Time duration:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

General

To my chagrin, I kept finding that there were oil stains under the car. I have already checked all possible sources myself or the workshop. Suspected were the crankshaft oil seals, oil pressure switch, valve cover, distributor, the oil pan, etc.. The oil comes from further up and runs away at the block to the rear. The nice shine on the following pictures is from the oil.

After I couldn’t really find a cause, I just redid the valve cover gaskets. Since I have Edelbrock cover, I also wanted to use the appropriate seals and because I personally do not find the cork seals so great, I have chosen the CRC seals (core-reinforced-composite).

On the net you can find many instructions for this as a description or video, which is why I only roughly go into the work.

SBC

When I hold the covers in my hands, the cause becomes visible. A gasket slipped during assembly and was also cracked.

Assembly of gaskets and covers

I chose Hylomar M as the sealant. The sealant is applied ONLY to the valve cover. Here also around the screw holes of the cover. When it has dried for about 10 minutes, the gasket can be put on. The gasket always has the tendency to bend inward. This can be countered by fixing the gasket with clothespins, for example. I then let the whole thing dry for a good hour. In principle, the sealant should only prevent the seal from slipping during assembly (see picture above). There are also examples where only simple spray adhesive is used.

The sealing faces of the cover and cylinder head must be free of adhesive or sealant. Before applying the sealant to the edge surface of the valve cover and head, they must be well cleaned.

I then placed the valve cover on the cylinder head and hand tightened it. The bolts should be tightened to 3 lbs.ft so a good 4 Nm. After a week, this will be checked again and if the gasket has settled a bit, retightened.

After everything is back in place, it looks fancy again.

2 replies on “Valve cover gasket”

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