1970FuryConv
Old Man with a Hat
What company did you buy them from?
Thanks
Fel-Pro cork Valve cover gaskets SUCK!
- Thread starter Blue 300
- Start date
Thanks
Oh man, that is a damn good question as I bought them close to 20 years ago. It may have been from Summit, but I may have also gotten them at the yearly "Western Street Rod Nationals" in Bakersfield. Their vendors carried a lot of stuff; I know I bought some seatbelts and shorty headers there.
Not the same, but I saw these on Summit:
CHRYSLER Mr. Gasket 9807 Mr. Gasket Chrome Valve Covers | Summit Racing
As stated a couple times above, the real issue that is not necessarily readily apparent to many is to be sure adhesive such as 3M or similar is only applied to the interface of the valve cover gasket to the valve cover. If you apply sealant to the bottom of the valve cover gasket where it mates with the top of the head, you will surely have oil leaking issues. Many newbies will try to use adhesive on both sides of the valve cover gasket and that is why they can't get them to seal properly and not leak.
This thread @ayilar is pertaining to the valve covers to top of head interface.
What you are referring to is the exhaust manifold to head interface gasket. Those that you are showing though are great for that application and I use them as well with good results
What's adhesive? The valve covers either pour out the back, or they don't. That's been my experience, regardless of what the material is.
I would like to do a comparison of cork vs rubber vs won't leak gaskets in the near future.
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I use the fiber gaskets (not cork) made by Felpro that are relatively thick (i.e. have a good amount of compressibility and I use a clear adhesive that brushes on easily and seals very well in short order. I will go out in my garage tomorrow and report on which one I was told to use by my engine rebuilder so I can be very specific in that regard.
Just as a test, I did "waste" one gasket to see if putting that same adhesive on the bottom side of the gasket as well where it meets with the head and torqueing it down as the specs indicated and sure enough, it leaked profusely. Until my rebuilder was specific about it, I had been doing it incorrectly for many years and never could get a good seal. Now I get a very good seal and no leaks at all and am humbled. I still can't explain why that is the case though. It seemed to me that sealing both sides was sensible, but it just isn't - next time I see him I am going to ask him to explain why sealing only the top side works and sealing the bottom side as well does not.
Also, for completeness, my engine rebuilder recommended that I use Edelbrock Gasgacinch sealant for the installation of the Felpro gasket to the underside of the valve cover and it worked well.
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Reply to my own post from 2019.
Put on the Real Gaskets from Tennessee.
Over 5 years no leaks. However the hipo exhaust manifolds did a number on the paint on the valve covers. May have to take them off for a touch up. I'm very intrigued by the exhaust gasket mentioned. Have it in my RockAuto cart now.
Put on the Real Gaskets from Tennessee.
Over 5 years no leaks. However the hipo exhaust manifolds did a number on the paint on the valve covers. May have to take them off for a touch up. I'm very intrigued by the exhaust gasket mentioned. Have it in my RockAuto cart now.
I have yet to find any combination of primer/color high heat products that maintain their orange color on my valve covers or the painted intake crossover area on my TNT equipped 70 Hurst. Maybe powder coating would work if there was such a thing as the right color. I try to find nicely painted engines at car shows/cruise nights, but the usual fix is for people to use aftermarket chrome or aluminum valve covers and an unpainted aluminum intake, and/or aftermarket headers instead of the stock hipo ones that are only a 1/4" away from the covers. Not only do they cook paint and valve cover gaskets, but I eventually developed a leak in the top of the power steering box where the adjusment block sits on top of o-rings. When I took off the block, I saw that the o-rings had basically become petrified and crumbled when I took them out.
57fury440
Senior Member
I have been using cork gaskets on all my big block Mopars since 1966. I never had any leaks. I tack them on with a spray on gasket cement that keeps them in place until I bolt them down. If you have the factory valve covers you have to make sure they were not over tightened and distorted the valve cover.
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