Which type of valve cover gaskets do you guys recommend? They are for a 402.


I just have the rubber ones and they are starting to leak. I was told by a mechanic to use thick cork and glue them into the covers with weatherstrip adhesive. Any thoughts?

I use the cork ones and they are fine. Just make sure you don't yarn down on the bolts. The covers will bend.

On my '69 I had the blue rubber FelPros. They have metal core and crush preventers around the bolt holes. They were VERY good and VERY pricey. The cork/composition ones glued to the covers also work very well but you do have to be careful of over tightening.

I use cork. And actually, have pulled my covers off several times and kept reusing the same gasket. It hasnt leaked so far.

Jamie,

DO NOT use weatherstrip adhesive on any gasket! The person who told you that IS NOT a mechanic!!

If your valve covers are straight and all mating surfaces are clean and dry, you do not need any sealer on the gaskets. With that said, I do use a slight amount of sealer such as Coppercoat to keep the gasket attached to the valve cover during installation. Good quality cork gaskets will work fine if installed correctly, but my preference is the silicon gasket with metal 'backbone' which are available from Victor-Reinz, Fel-Pro, etc. They are expensive but they seal well and can be reused several times.

[QUOTE=engineguy]Jamie,

DO NOT use weatherstrip adhesive on any gasket! The person who told you that IS NOT a mechanic!!

QUOTE]

I wondered about the weatherstrip adhesive thing, didn't know if it was a "mechanics secret" or something.

Thanks for the info guys!!!:thumbsup: