I've heard that the chrome is too slippery for the gasket to seal, and that the sealing area should be scuffed with a fine grit paper, in order to roughen up the chrome. True?

I'm thinking of throwing on chrome valve covers when I rebuild my motor; I like the aluminum ones I have now, but chrome would be spiffy. But either way, I'd have to take the covers off, and put covers back on. Should I use the cork gasket? Should I cover the cork gasket in blue RTV? Should I skip the cork gasket and just use RTV? I don't think any "performance" valve cover gaskets are made for my 2.8 V6!

 

i'm using 100% rubber gaskets with my chrome covers and after a couple months of my engine running, they're still not leaking.

 

Regular Fel-Pro gaskets with some RTV sealant will do the trick.

 

fel-pro rubber gaskets.

 

fel-pro here...just be sure not to over torque...and give the sealant time to set....

 

I agree, the rubber gaskets work fine w/o rtv. and they're reusable a few times. Did the chrome covers about 2 months ago, no leaks but I do check to make sure the wing bolts haven't loosened.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys! I'm 99% sure that there are NO rubber gaskets for my application (2.8 V6)... so unless I dig up a part # (and I'll look), it'll either be cork, rtv, or a mixture of the both. Which is better? Or do they all suck just as bad?

 

Might want to try some Permatex Hi-Tac on the gaskets. That stuff seems to stick better to very smooth surfaces than RTV does. RTV will stick but can be peeled off easily in almost a single piece (like using it on glass), the Hi-Tac won't peel off (you'll need solvent to remove it). I could never get my chrome valve covers to seal for longer than maybe 6 months, till I tried this stuff.

~M~