jimbr

Motor work continues.... ready to install Billet valve covers. Happen to have a set of cork gaskets. IF I used these, should I coat them with any guey stuff? If so, what? Thought I'd use these a while - someone must know how to make them not leak....

Jim

(Yeah, the sig pic below will be as of finishing the current project - getting close!) :seeya

rainman69

A light bead of RTV blue to hold the cork gasket in the valve cover...if you want. Other than that, spread some clean engine oil on the contact side that butts up against the cylinder head...the oil soaks in and causes the cork to expand to fill gaps, also prevents scorching the cork to the head.

I use thick cork gaskets (7/16") and no RTV, just oiling them up and they go on and come off wonderfully.

Warp70

I'm getting ready to install some new valve covers myself. When I purchased the cork gaskets, the manager of the shop told me that mechanics use weatherstripping adhesive on the covers to keep them from leaking. I bought some but I have yet to try it due to being a little unsure of his advice. I don't know how the adhesive would hold up to that type of temperature, since that's not what it was designed to be used for..........Good Luck!

Chris Fowler

I've got cork on mine with just a little bit of RTV to hold them to the valve cover for installation.

No leaks at all.

bence13_33

I've never had luck with RTV and gaskets...they alway end up leaking. Through my experiences installing just the gasket with no RTV has been the most successful. A trick that my uncle taught me is this. Take some RTV sealant and spread it around the INSIDE of the valve cover gasket with your finger. Cork gaskets often times absorb oil and eventually leak because of that. The RTV sealant around the inside helps to prevent the absorbtion of the oil into your valve cover gasket.

For the record, I feel that if you have a quality gasket there is no need for RTV sealant in most cases. I use Sure-Tac. You spray some on your gasket which makes it slightly tacky, this helps with gasket installation.

jimbr

Thanks all.

Well, I went for using the tacky permetex stuff to hold the gasket in place on the cover then lightly oiled the head side of the gasket and wiped any excess off. Installed the covers. Since I have nice Billet Aluminum covers, I can also have them a little tighter than the bending thin stell stuff. We'll see when it is running! :chevy

Time to put in the spark plugs, remount the AC Compressor, get new (longer) belt for Alternator, and then wait :confused: and wait :confused: for the Edelbrock 1405 carb to arrive before I can continue.


Happy New Year,
Jim

Captain Morgan

I didn't know to do this and I just installed cork gaskets. The thin rubber ones (or whatever they were) were leaking BAD and they were less than a year old. I installed the cork ones and haven't had any problems yet but I haven't run it more than a hundred miles so far.

Should I remove the valve covers and put some oil on the head side just to be safe or is it already too late? BTW, I used the blue RTV on the valve cover side.

69bblock3x2

Warp70,

The shop manager was partially correct about the weatherstrip adhesive. The adhesive is used simply to hold the gasket in place when the valve cover is being installed. It is not to stop them from leaking. Of course the adhesive should be put on the valve cover and not the head. This is what Fel-Pro recommends.

Be careful when using RTV. It can actually act as a lubricant and cause the gasket to slip out of place while it is being tightend. The Nov. 2001 issue of Hot Rod had a tech article devoted to the proper installation of valve cover gaskets along with info on products from 5 different manufacturers. They covered some good basic information.

John