I'm sure somebody out there has run into this. I got the standard $14 rubber gaskets from Autozone and of course they are too damn small and you have to stretch them so they fit into the valve cover groove.

So then when the valve covers go on the engine the gaskets NEVER stay in place. It took me about an hour last night ****ing with them and today I found out they leak

I would put some tack cement on them to hold them but the instructions specifically say not to!!

Anyways has anybody else had this problem? Why not glue the gaskets to the covers?

 

why'd you bother to read the instructions? i always use some sort of glue, like gorrilla snot, to hold gasket in place

 

rtv works for me

 

I don't know what kind you have but I purchased the Fel-Pro rubber one and didn't have a single problem. I just reinstalled them into my new engine. I ran them for about a year no problem.

 

i just put a small curl on the inner edge of the 4 corners so it holds the gasket in place.


btw, its suppost to streach to fit.

 

When these start to leak, just get the moroso steel impregnated rubber gaskets, no more fitment or leak problems. plus they can be taken off and reused more time than what' you'll probably put them through.

 

You are talking about the centerbolt covers, right? Back when I had that style on my car, I used nothing but the orange genuine GM gaskets. They had the little tabs on them that held the gasket onto the cover nicely. Try them, Im sure youll find it much easier.

 

Stretch them into place, hold you fingers over the ends of the valve cover lip making sure the gasket doesn't fall out when you turn it over. Put on the valve cover and slowly pull your fingers out of the way as you drop one side of the valve cover home and then the other. Magic.

 

Wow you should work for Fel-pro!

 

Sounds like they made it too small as a joke just so they would know that some guy would be breaking his ***** just to get it to work.

Seriously, if you don't like it, ditch it. Take it back even and say you were unsatisfied with it. Its your car, and its a cheap part, get one you like. IMO its important to get less frustrating parts as much as possible even if they are more expensive. It keeps you from getting burned out, and you will do a better job, then when something else goes bad, you will be in a better mood about fixing it. Kind of liking buying a spark plug boot puller or an oil filter wrench, you'll enjoy doing the job alot more - especially when you dont have to hammer a screw driver through the filter every time to change it .

I found one of those "steel impregnated rubber gaskets" on one of my cars once. I thought to myself, "Thats a damn good gasket right there!" Made me happy .

 

You have the wrong valve cover gaskets you need centerbolt ones and probably bought the old perimeter style.

 

Wow you guys have some great ideas on these! I ended up using some tack glue, but will probably use the metal/rubber gaskets next time.

No. It WAS The centerbolt gasket. I've bought them before and they are always too small. They do make them too small so that they "fit".

But then you read the instructions and they say "Do not use any compound to hold gaskets". This makes it about impossible on the passenger side head with all the A/C, tranny dipstick, oil dipstick, heater pipe, harness, etc. in the way.

I'm sure this gasket works fine when your engine is sitting on a stand.

It just upsets me when you buy a part and it is obvious that the person who designed it obviously didn't bother to go out to a garage and try out his product in the real world.

 

Get the GM gaskets....Problem solved.

 

Hmm not too sure about that... when I got the ZZ4 engine which probably had GM gaskets I had the same kind that shrunk down.

 

I got the really cheap rubber gaskets from NAPA for like $10 a set, because i need to adjust my rockers alot. You will have to find the part number online and have them order them, because the people that work at NAPA aren't the brightest. In fact i have no faith in anybody except myself and a couple of people at Schucks when it comes to ordering parts.

They fit perfectly!

 

I had some chrome center bolt covers that the inner lip wasn't very tall at all and almost impossible to get those gaskets to stay in place.

What I did was, stretch the gasket, run about two layers of electrical tape around the ends, set them down and just get the bolts started, pull the tape out. Worked perfect and they don't leak. It's a pretty thick gasket and unless a valve cover is bent I don't see how they could leak.

 

That what I use, with all the crap around my covers, and my fat fingers I don't need the extra frustration.

 

Well it's time for me to replace my valve cover gaskets again. What do you tell the monkeys at the GM dealership? Is there a certain car that these "GM Gaskets" came on? Can I just say "92 camaro?"

 

I use Proform Valve Covers, they use GM gaskets, I get them at a Performance Shop, not at local auto Autoparts stores.

 

what the heck is the point of making these gaskets too small?
i just loked at my gaskets for the enging i am building and there is an install sheet saying "this gasket is intentionally manufactured undersized and REQUIRES SLIGHT STRETCHING to fit snugly into the cover????
are they worried about it squeezing out?under vaccum a gasket will suck in,not squeeze out.don't even get me started about vortec intake gaskets!i need an $80 intake gasket set????????????
Eric B

 

I paid $16 for the Fel-pro rubber valve cover gaskets which are mounted on vortec heads. I did not have any problem getting them to fit.

 

Do they make these for centerbolt covers? I saw them at Jegs but I think they only offer them for the old style covers. Or do they fit centerbolts?

The GM Stealership wants $55 for both gaskets, so I decided to give the RTV a shot on my existing rubber gaskets. Bad idea. I must be leaking a cup of oil from them every time I take the car out for a spin now.

So I'm still looking for any other possible ideas before I break down and go buy the $55 GM gaskets

 

Get the cheap gaskets at napa Napa Gaskets

I use them and they work fine.

 

They do that so the gasket is self-retaining and goes on straight. Teh neoprine gaskets that the centerbolts have are a gift from g o d compared to the old perimeter bolt gaskets. Those are a pita. Have to apply glue at the corners and centers to retain them and the torque setting is critical. If theyre mistorqued, the covers bend, the gaskets crush down and tear, and leak. With the centerbolts its just drop them on the head and bolt them down. The gaskets are even reusable if theyre not damaged.