Sealing up valve covers

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When I pulled the vc's to dbl chk valve lash they were a c-sucker to get off. I shellac'd them to vc and some would still stick to cyl head. I may try the cork sammich in the future.
Bodyperson said:
It doesn't take much clamping force to hold oil back with a good valve cover. I've re-used glued to valve cover cork gaskets double stacked over and over.
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Good info on the curved cover rail, never thought of that. Cork gaskets always seem to work. Doubling the gaskets smart idea, too. I might use Gasgacinch to glue the gaskets together. Or Aviation Permatex, which works well for threads that weep, Aviation can be hard to remove so use judiciously and on threads that aren't ever removed. Both you can glue gaskets together on the bench on a flat spot & light even pressure w/ something flat on top. Cast covers good for that.
Use too much aviation & you'll have a messy edge to clean.
 
I would never use RTV and any gasket sealer together except oil pan & intake corners or you're asking for a leak.
OP never said what heads on his 318 . If Aluminum heads that's a different problem because aftermarket VC rails are machined flat where Factory Iron is a cast rail w/ no machining at all & is rough & like someone pointed out May Not Be Flat, as many of us already know.
 
Texas Red said:
Bought some neoprene valve cover gaskets trying to seal up my 318 in Project 53 truck of mine. I Have to run stock valve covers due to the power brake booster
being so close to my valve cover. Dug around in my spares and came up some super clean 360 valve covers from a previously parted out engine. wire buffed the gasket sealing surface, used some Permatex high tack on the valve cover side to stick the gasket to the valve cover and installed.
I dont think the gaskets are crap because I am running the very same gasket on my Duster 410 engine without any leaks but have some quality welded aluminum valve covers I obtained from Mancini Racing and have zero leaks on it. I dont think the factory stamped steel valve overs have enough clamp down power to make that happen in comparison to the aluminum ones I am running on my Duster engine. I hate to even think about using high tack on both sides of the gasket but space is a problem over close to the brake booster side.... Oil gangs up in the corners no matter what you do........... Any ideas?????? Thanks everybody Texas Red
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Have you bolted them on yet or is this just a worry thread?
 
Project 53 (My Avatar) 318 now has 27 K plus miles since total overhaul back in 2019. The oil leak problem has become so bad to the point that the starter got saturated and left me stranded a while back..... The oil leak was noticeable (with way too many
irons in the fire in my life) but has got to be a nuisance and now that life has slowed down for me I am now on a mission to see if I can stop it completely. As previously mentioned by Trail Beast the V.C. gasket sealing rails on Cast heads can be rough to even having high points in the casting from the factory. If I were honest with everyone I never even thought to look at these sealing surfaces when I was bolting on the heads...... but the more I look at it the weeping effect through the hold down bolts (combined with heat) just might be the culprit as all 4 corners on both valve covers are doing the same thing.... plus its worth noting that oil does collect in the corners of the valve covers. Through my 50 plus years of owning vehicles I don't care what brand was on the hood a mass majority of the older engines of the past leaked or wept oil somewhere. Thanks to a lot of special knowledge on this site and many great mechanical minds we will overcome. Texas Red
 

Had to write a update.... Oil leaky valve covers are no more!!!!!! I am still in shock and really cant believe that 99% of valve cover leaks were through the hold down bolts ....... but shear determination plus expert help and Permatex right stuff did the trick. The biggest thing I see now oil seeping from heat etc.... is the factory rubber plug in the valve cover. I have another set of factory 360 valve covers I was going to dig out and just see how easy that plug is to remove, clean up and get some right stuff on the plug and reinstall getting all the oil seeping stopped. I noticed yesterday that due to the cooling fan constantly moving the seeping oil down the side of the valve cover towards the Left rear of the engine dripping off on the starter.
A big shout out to everyone who chimed in on repair procedures. THANKS, THANKS, THANKS. Texas Red
 
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