So i'm trying to get my valve covers back on and I bought new gaskes. They're the blue felpro ones. The thing is its like their half an inch to short so I have to stretch them onto the cover but I cant keep it on there without it popping off while tryin to put the cover back on. Are they supposed to be that tight or should I just junk em and find some cork ones?

 

Junk them and get the cork ones. I had the same problem when I tried the fel-pros. There is no way to stretch them and get the valve cover on. Fel-pro usually makes good stuff but they missed the boat on this set.

 

Thanks, atleast I know I didn't just get a bad set. Hopefully advance has some in stock tomorrow.

 

Don't use cork. Step into at least the 20th century, even if not the 21st. Cork is one of the reasons that old motors didn't used to last very long; you have NO IDEA how many whole cars got junked because the motors leaked all their fluids (water, oil, vacuum, fuel, whatever) because the gaskets were nothing but tree bark from the Stone Age.

First, STRAIGHTEN the valve covers. The flanges are often bent from overtightening the bolts, prying them off, etc. Use the heads as your measuring stick for STRAIGHTNESS. Make sure that before you put the gaskets in place, the covers sit down onto the heads with a more-or-less uniform gap; the only deviations should be, that where the bolts press on them, there should be MORE gap, such that as you tighten the bolts, once they reach the correct tightness, the gap gets taken up. (i.e. reverse the effect of tightening the bolts)

Once you have the parts STRAIGHT, lay a bead of gorilla snot on the VC, and a matching bead on the gasket. Wait about 20 minutes or so, then lay the gasket CAREFULLY into the VC, a little at a time, such that the gasket is laid into the VC STRAIGHT. Wait another 15 or 20 min for the gorilla snot to set up. Then put some grease (any kind of thick NON-FIBER wheel bearing type grease will do fine) onto the gasket where it meets the head. That way you can easily remove the VC any time you need to without damaging the gasket, yet it will seal perfectly forever.

Did I use the word "straight" enough times?

 

Well the valve covers are brand new so I would hope that they're straight but i'll check, also I don't think any gorilla snot is gonna be able to hold these thing in there without popping off, the rubber gasket is that tight. These are centerbolt covers by the way. The only thing I can think of is to throw em in the oven long enough just to get them warm, slightly hot. Then run outside and put em on. That's my idea lol.

 

Gorilla snot will work just fine. Far better than putting a bunch of Stone Age tree bark in there instead.

Yes you can soften em up by heating em in the oven or in boiling water.

However, if you let the gorilla snot ON BOTH THE GASKET AND THE VC set up to where it's almost entirely solid BEFORE you put the gasket onto the VC, you'll be amazed at how much holding power it has.

 

you said valve covers are new . new aftermarket ? sounds like they are . they may not have the inner & outer lip to retain gasket . clean both gasket & cover surfaces with a good solvent/degreaser (acetone or alcohol) . apply a light coat of silicone seal to valve cover . install seal & hold in place with common clothes pins (cheap at local dollar store) . use plenty of pins around edges , set in sun or warm place to cure . go have lunch , drink beer , take a d#mp , whatever . just let it cure for a couple hrs. . has ALWAYS worked for me . good luck .

 

Thanks for the tips guys. The aftermarket ones I have are very similar to the stock ones, and I noticed the lip on the inside is a lot smaller than the stock covers. So instead of driving all the way back to town to buy some gorilla snot or silicone, I soaked the old ones in a tote of water and dawn, scrubbed em clean, painted with some high temp semi gloss black I had in the shed, and decided to just go with those. I got the ending result I was after in the first place which is non oil covered valve covers. I'll just sell the newer ones for what I can.

 

Those blue Felpros are good gaskets, but if its cold out you gotta warm em up. They tend to shrink a bit in the cold air.

 

I have a set of the felpro blue center bolt gaskets on my truck. I had no issues putting them on and they haven't leaked a drop in over 3 years. They were very soft and I had no problem stretching them to slip over the lip on the valve covers.
If they are cold and stiff, lay them in the sun for a bit or just silicone them to the valve covers.

 

Yeah they work great on the stock covers, some aftermarket covers dont have a lip as tall as the stock ones do is the issue. So on the aftermarket ones there wasnt enough lip to hold the rubber gasket, i agree they work perfect for the stock covers though.

 

I bet you bought one of those "inexpensive " dress up kits,no? if so, compare them to the OE pieces,see ,they aren't made correctly. our friend on here ,sofa refers to them as "chinesium" theyre junk

 

I agree 100% with sofa on that statement.

 

They were mr.gasket brand valve covers, either way i aint usin em. I'll wait for a good set.

 

I dont dress up engines, i despise chrome. But anyways they were mr.gasket valve covers and looked and fit fine. Just didnt have big enough of a lip for rubber gaskets. Regardless i didnt use em and cleaned up the stock ones.