well i have an oil leak from both valve covers, both at the bottom toward the rear of the engine. originaly i used a cork gasket that cam in a fel-pro kit. today i removed the drivers side cover and noticed that the spreaders are bowed. are they supposed to be bowed? i have also bought a set of the valve cover gaskets that are rubber with the steel in them.

so my questions are:
1) do i need new valve cover spreaders?
2) when you install a new cam, adjust the valves, break it in and dont hear any ticking from the pushrods and rockers do you have to readjust them?

 

The rocker cover bolt load spreaders should be installed with the crown facing up (bowed downward).

After installing a flat tappet cam and breaking it in, it's always a good idea to re-check lifter preload. You know that the cam lobes had to wear in some in order to polish, and that means a lifter preload change. You're already going to remove the rocker covers and install decent (not cork) gaskets anyway.

 

thanks for the reply, i figured it out yesterday tho