Hey again everyone, I have a quick question about valve cover gaskets. My brother who started this prject bought the wrong gasket kit for the heads he had purchased, so now I have make up for his mistakes.

My question is: If I have the center bolt style vortec valve covers, and I have a gasket for the type of valve cover that bolts onto the side of the head, can I just razor blade the extra material off of the gasket and use it, or would the engine leak oil from where I jerry rigged it? Thanks for the help.

 

you may be able to do it that way, but i would expect leaks right away.
if you still have the old center bolt VC gaskets, many times you can reuse them without problems if they are in good condition.

 

Unfortunately, I bought the car as just a rolling chassis, it had no engine or tranny, so I have no old gaskets to work with. I guess I am gonna have to shell out the whole 15 bucks for new ones.

 

Yeah. Unfortunately the older style valve cover gaskets are different than what you need. Shaving the material won't help you a bit. Just be happy these gaskets are cheaper than some of the ones out there.

 

Any centerbolt gaskets I've seen are rubber, where the perimeter bolt gaskets seem to be cork. Just pick up the proper set, it's not worth skimping on something like this.