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One of the last things I wanted to do before the Spring Fling was change out my valve cover gaskets. They were the cheap cork ones with the little metal rings inside the bolt holes. I had a very small drip under the car and like Andy Dunn, initially thought it was the rear seal. After reading Andy's post where he discovered it was a valve cover gasket I took a drive to get the oil flowing. After the drive I ran my finger along the valve cover gaskets and sure enough, the passenger side was damp.
This morning, all ready to go with new silicon rubber gaskets, I removed the valve covers being careful to account for the six metal rings in each gasket. The driver's side went fine. I moved to the passenger side and carefully pulled the cover. OK, there's four rings still in the gasket and there's one laying on the head. WHERE'S THE SIXTH ONE!!!! Now I've got beads of sweat on the ol' forehead thinking it dropped down one of the oil drain holes or pushrod holes. I spent fifteen minutes looking for the damn thing and now I'm about to puke!!!! Finally I thought "maybe it fell off and is under the car." Hot damn, there it was on the floor. Boy did that little episode suck!
Some of this was my fault. When I had installed the original gaskets I had put a thin layer of silicon gasket sealer on the valve cover thinking it would help seal. Well the rings can stick to the silicon and pull out of the gasket when you lift the valve cover. Then they fall off or get knocked off the cover and can drop anywhere.
The point is, the cork gaskets ain't worth the box they're packaged in. Not only don't they seal well, but the rings come out easily and are small enough to drop into the worst possible places. What turned out OK for me could have been a disaster.
Oh well...The new gaskets are in and I think the car is ready.
This morning, all ready to go with new silicon rubber gaskets, I removed the valve covers being careful to account for the six metal rings in each gasket. The driver's side went fine. I moved to the passenger side and carefully pulled the cover. OK, there's four rings still in the gasket and there's one laying on the head. WHERE'S THE SIXTH ONE!!!! Now I've got beads of sweat on the ol' forehead thinking it dropped down one of the oil drain holes or pushrod holes. I spent fifteen minutes looking for the damn thing and now I'm about to puke!!!! Finally I thought "maybe it fell off and is under the car." Hot damn, there it was on the floor. Boy did that little episode suck!
Some of this was my fault. When I had installed the original gaskets I had put a thin layer of silicon gasket sealer on the valve cover thinking it would help seal. Well the rings can stick to the silicon and pull out of the gasket when you lift the valve cover. Then they fall off or get knocked off the cover and can drop anywhere.
The point is, the cork gaskets ain't worth the box they're packaged in. Not only don't they seal well, but the rings come out easily and are small enough to drop into the worst possible places. What turned out OK for me could have been a disaster.
Oh well...The new gaskets are in and I think the car is ready.
