Why is it that every single set of felpro valve cover gaskets I get are too small? I always get the blue rubber ones for my centerbolt style covers. When I say to small, Imean way off. I litterally have to cut the gasket inhalf and fil the void with gasket maker and itmakes a mess and never seals fully. felpro has told me to return them and get a new set and I am tired of returning these things. What is up with this? there is no way to get the gasket to stay put on the valve cover at all.

oh and I have tried stretching them. I had them over stretched for 24 hours and guess what, they went righ tback to there original size. I even tried it in hot water.

 

Because Felpro gaskets are crap, I havent used them in years. Victor gaskets tend to be more accurate.

 

victor huh, hm I will have to go a little searching for them then.

 

I used the fel-pro blue valve cover gaskets, At first, i thought they were too small, but they stretch out to the right size and fit right on. Haven't had any leak problems and they've been reused 3 times. Its tricky to get them to stay stretched on, but it worked for me.

 

matt, I will throw you a case of beer to come and show(prove) me how you got those gaskets to stay in the channel on the valve cover. I know its not my valve covers cuz the chanel dimensins should all be the same for SBC engines. The only ones that will work for me are the cork ones and righ tnow I think that will be the route I take since it is MUCH easier to install them.

 

MMMMMM, beer. I just figgured I'd throw in my . It took about an hour and 1 buddy to help me hold them on, but I did get it on. JUst curious, do you still have stock valvecovers? I noticed that the stock ones are easier to do, but mine are aftermarket.

 

I am running a set of aftermarket valve covers. see, your saving grace was you extra set of hands yo uhad. Did you seal the gasket to the cover first and let it dry or did you just toss it on the head and HOPE that the gasket was still in the channel?

 

I use Fel-Pro and they fit just fine on my stock valve covers. No sealant needed, as per the instructions. It's a slight stretch, nothing major at all. It's been a while since I had the VCs off, but I'd say it was about a 1"-2" stretch. Not a problem at all. The stretching is what helps it stay on the VCs so you can flip them over without it falling out. It wasn't tricky for me at all, grab one end, stretch the other on, slip it on, and all set to go. Maybe you have the wrong gaskets?

 

I used no sealer on the gasket. With my 4 hands i was able to keep the gasket tucked in place and slip the valvecover on. The pass. side is trickier, with my 5th hand, i had to pry back on the trans dipstick tube to get the valvecover past the rocker arms. Believe me, if i was in the area, i'de offer a helping hand, or 2....or 3.

 

I have teh blues on aftermarket valve covers and have no issues, infact i've had em off 3 or four times for little tweaks here and there and have never had an issue with fitting or leaking, i have been told that they are designed to go on one way and if you have em upside down or whatever they won't stay in place

 

I've never had a problem, but they stretch a bit right over and stay forever. I don't see the issue here...

Felpro gets my

 

I was almost convinced to buy fe-pro gaskets for the whole engine till I read this thread. Think now I will buy GM gaskets. Little bit more expensive but they work.

 

well, does felpro offer different gaskets for the standard SBC valve cover? I mean, all I do is go to autozone and ask for a set of gaskets for my year car. Am I missing somthing here

 

I work at a rapid chevy, a dealership here in rapid, and with this situation(of which we run into all the time) we use a little of the 3m spray adhesive on the valve cover to attach the gasket, streach the gasket into place(work quickly as the stuff dries quickly) and let it sit a wile, another homely method is to put the gasket on the cover put a pizza pan over it ( to hold th gasket in place and put it in the oven and 100* to let it losten up to the actual siz of the cover.

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one with this problem. I thought I was losing my mind. It's a serious P.I.T.A to get these to stay in place. I spent about an hour trying to get them to stay on before I gave up. I went to two other parts shops in the area looking for a different brand/material and all they stocked were these blue rubber-band Fel-Pros.

 

I actually glued them to an old set of valve covers, i had the some problem awhile back. Aftermarket valve covers they don't fit quite right you have to stretch them a lot.

 

I got a set from autozone a couple months ago(noticed a little seepage), not the blue ones though, these were the kinda tan looking ones....got them on in 20mins.

 

I have the stock centerbolt covers so my situation may be different, but I didn't find it to be complicated at all to get them on or keep them on. Having to stretch them into the channel actually held them in place when i flipped the cover over to install. The blame should maybe be put on the aftermarket VCs rather than the gaskets, being that they work with the stock parts, which I'm sure is what they were designed for.

 

i actually just put a set of felpro vc gaskets on my 89 jimmy. i know its not a camaro but a 350 none the less. anyway i had to stretch mine some to fit in the channel in the covers. thats what the directions said to do and they went on just fine.

 

I happen to like the felpro blue lol, then again i have stock covers so that may be helpful. I just stretched them onto my covers, pressed them into the groove as much as i could and bolted them down, i had a problem withthe passenger side though because its kinda crowded over there so keeping it on and manuvering them into place was a PITA but the drivers side took me about 10 minutes to pull, strip, put the new ones on and bolt down.

Maybe those aftermarkets are the deciding factor in all of this

 

Yes, the aftermarket ones seem to be more difficult for some reason. I'm not sure why since they both fit the same heads.

I don't necessarily dislike the gaskets -- I get the sense that the compound used will create an effective seal and that's why I wanted to get them to work somehow. I checked three more parts stores last night and they all carried the same Fel-Pro VC gaskets. I ran across a product called Permatex Hi-Tack Gasket Sealant (about $6). This stuff looks like it will be tacky enough to hold the stretched gasket in place while I quickly try to maneuver the cover onto the heads. I didn't have time to try it last night, but hopefully in the next couple of days I'll try it out. I'll post the results so that it might help others with this problem.

 

Bringing this one back with some more info:
My car had aftermarket valve covers on it when I bought it, and a set of stockers came with it. I'm putting the stock ones back on once I paint them, but I replaced the passenger side gasket today. The aftermarket one won't hold the gasket, while the stock one holds it perfectly. It seems to be the design of the lip that holds the gasket that is the difference. The stock lip has a slight outward curve on the inside to keep the gasket in place, whereas the aftermarket one curves inward. Just thought I'd add that to the proof of aftermarket valve covers being the culprit.

 

Good point right there. I noticed that too. Theres no ther way around it other then cutting the gasket in half and filling the space with gasket maker material. I did this and after 2 years of driving my car, I havent had a leak yet from them. I put a dab of gasket maker in each corner and set the gasket in place. Then I filled the center where the gasket was cut and let it set up for a little while.

 

I tried using the hi-tack sealant and it definitely helped hold the gasket in place. I have not yet run the motor with the new gaskets because the project is not ready, but assuming the sealant does not have any negative effect on the gaskets themselves, I'm fairly confident they will provide a good seal. BTW you have to apply the sealant and let it sit for a few minutes until it becomes very tacky before sticking the gasket on it. I'll provide another update after the motor has broken in.