The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Valve Cover Gasket Replacement

The captive ferrule fitting can be removed and reinstalled repeatedly- - - -once it squeezes down on the tubing, it doesn't have to be removed again. It just swages down and puts a slight groove in the tube. The simple fix for the broken tube is to put a short piece of 1/4" OD copper tubing over the break and solder it into place. It's a quick, permanent fix, and it will be much better than a piece of rubber tube.
Jerry

Well let's see if I can put this one back together in the right order.

There was virtually no sludge inside the shaft. You can tell that there is more wear on the bottom of the shaft than on the top like you said, but there's nothing that you can catch your fingernail on.

Hey when I put this back together, do I need to assemble it with clean oil or just put it together dry and then oil it when it's back on the truck?

That slight amount of wear should be fine. The fingernail test works.

The cleanest way is to assemble it dry and then squirt some oil in the weep hole on each rocker once it's back on the truck. That'll be enough lubrication until the pump sends oil up to the shafts and fills them.

I have to disagree with Jerry about reusing the captive ferrule fitting repeatedly. Each time it's used, the front end of the opening gets a little smaller. That's what squeezed down on the tube. If it's not removed from it's tube, then yes it can be used repeatedly, but it can be very difficult to get off the original tube and used on a new piece of tube.

Thanks Kevin,

I have a hot date with the manager of Auto Zone tomorrow so no getting all grimy after work for me! I'll have to remove and clean the rear shaft on Thursday.

Here are some pictures to hold everybody over until then.

Man look how shiny that cover is. I should have sprayed clear coat over it and people would think it was a Duesenberg engine or something.

Instead I went with the O-riginal, genuine, General Motors, factory correct color engine enamel - Duplicolor DE1611, New Ford Gray!

One good thing is the paint job😎

What do you guys think I should do with the two openings on the top of the valve cover? I don't particularly like that design, especially since there are no baffles or anything else to prevent contaminants from getting in there. Seems like a pretty stupid design by general motors. However doesn't seem to have hurt these engines too much so should I leave them alone, or should I fill them in with JB weld?

There needs to be some ventilation under the valve cover, so either leave them or close them up and use a vented oil fill cap. One issue with the back vent opening is the drain tube from the cowl cneter vent. If the hose points directly down to the center, there's a good chance that water can get into the valve cover. The tube is supposed to be offset to one side, but they can get limp and point toward center. If you leave them open, definitely check that drain tube for correct positioning.

Yeah there's a normal vented cap on the front but wasn't sure if I needed more ventilation than just that. I think I probably will JB weld them shut .

The original cap wasn't vented, I don't think. If it's got the later style vented cap with the mesh, then I would plug up those valve cover holes too.

Is the flange on the front and rear of the valve cover supposed to be completely flat? Or does it turn up slightly? I assume flat but before I go tapping it down with a block of wood I want to make sure.

It seemed like maybe on the front flange that it turns up due to possible interference with the back of the water outlet.

Also, what about that bead on the driver side? Is that flange perpendicular to the side of the valve cover or does it tip slightly up? Does that bead and lip push down on top of the gasket rather than hang over the edge of it?

Looking at the cover again, it seems like that small 1/8" lip on the driver side is supposed to go over the edge of the gasket rather than press down on top of it.

If so, the flange needs to be perfectly horizontal rather than slightly turned up. Is this correct?

However, when I lay the gasket on the cover with the passenger edge pressed flat against the 1/2" lip on the flange, the driver side edge of the gasket only comes to the edge of the cover where the bead and flange begins rather than to the inside edge of that small lip.

What is the correct orientation of that bead and flange?

Sorry for all the questions about something as simple as a valve cover installation. This is the weirdest valve cover I've ever seen. 1/2" lip on one side, no lips on front and back, weird looking bead and 1/8" flange on the other side that doesn't seem to be there to hold the gasket in place.

50 235 from passenger car, thinking your 216 would be similar.

Thanks. That's helpful. So it looks like the little short lip with the bead just presses down right on the deck of the head so I should straighten mine so that the the edge of that little flange planes with the flat portion of the cover

Consider using sealant only on the bottom of the gasket onto the head, creates a nice seal where the most oil sits and a dam for adjusting valves.

I think that originally came from Jerry, I can say it works really well.

Chuck

Yes I was already planning on doing that. I have two gaskets which I will glue together to make a tall curb.

Then I'll glue my double gasket to the Head and then install the valve cover over that with a light coating of grease on the top of the gaskets.

I've got a little more to do before I'm at that stage, though I have to remove the rear rocker shaft get it all cleaned up, fix that spray oiler tube, and then adjust the valves.

I may put everything together and then make sure that the truck actually starts and runs and that the oil spray tube is functioning before I do any valve work or install the cover

The rear shaft isn't as nice as the front shaft. More sludge inside and some galling damage to the inside of the last two rockers where they move over the oil drain holes. Probably due to lack of oil.

Should I leave galls alone or try to file the raised part smooth?

.

Those rockers are candidates for replacement, as is the shaft. That's not galling, it's where the surrounding metal has been worn away, leaving that bump where the oil hole is. I'll bet that those rockers are a real sloppy fit even on a good shaft.
I may be able to help you out. Send me a PM and we can talk.

Ok.pm sent

Since the rocker shafts only wear on the bottom, it's possible to turn them upside down, drill new oil holes with a solid carbide drill bit, and plug the holes on top with pieces of round brass rod. Clamp a slightly oversize piece of brass into a drill press chuck, and file a slight taper to make a short plug that can be hammered into the top of the shaft. "Rinse and repeat" for all the top holes so the oil only goes to the bottom of the recycled shaft. Those shafts are harder than woodpecker lips, so filing on them is a lost cause!

"Worn out" rockers are excellent candidates for the conversion I do to Torrington roller bearings- - - - -ditto for those worn shafts, since I grind them down to fit an 18MM diameter bearing. Anyone who has rockers and/or shafts they're replacing, please don't discard them!
Jerry

Yeah I was asking about filing that bump inside the rocker arm not the shaft itself.

. I thought that that would probably be possible to turn the rocker shaft upside down,Jerry when I looked at it, but that's more work than I'm willing or even capable of doing right now

So much for having this quickie gasket replacement job done by today.

The cover looks great Otto. Nice job!

Thanks Phil. That Ford gray is perfect and it was only eight bucks a can

I'll clean up the mating surfaces and glue my two valve cover gaskets together but then I'll have to put it on hold until new rockers and shaft arrive from Alyeska.

I know you are all about keeping "Ol Roy" original but it may be time to locate another rocker assembly. I'm sure someone on the BOLT has a better setup just setting around. In the instance you can't locate one contact the folks at Rocker Arms Unlimited, they should be able to fix you up. I sent them the assembly from my 235 project along with the lifters, they rebuilt the entire assembly and provided new shafts. They resurfaced the lifters to original specs. I was very happy with their work.

https://www.rockerarms.com/

Hi Craig. You probably missed the post above as you were typing. A new assembly is en route from Kevin Hansen.

You'll need to let them thaw out...

As a fellow Georgian, you know it won't take that long the way the weather's been lately.

How do I get these little washers off of the panhead screws?

I bought new star washers for the handful of panhead screws that were missing them but I cannot get these little extremely thin washers off. And the washers have a slit in them but they are not lock washers.

Should I just leave them alone and install the star washer on top of them? Since these are such short screws I hate to take away even one thread of bite.

I've tried prying them with a screwdriver, putting them and trying to unscrew them but they won't unscrew on the threads. They're almost like captive washers.

I haven't seen any captive washers like that, only star washers that are a tight fit on the screw and just don't drop off. I think with a little more effort, since they're slotted, they could be removed and replaced with star washers. Pry the end at the slot up so it engages the nearest thread and then unscrew them. Clamp them in a vice between tip and head so you don't stab yourself with the screwdriver holding on to them by hand.

I've tried all of that. And these things are made out of some pretty strong steel I managed to get one off by bending it but it bunged up the threads on the pan head screw.

I ran it through a thread dye so I can still use it but I don't really want to do that to all of them.

Maybe try annealing the washer. It should get red hot before the screw does. That would make them easier to bend and get off. Just be careful not to get the screw too hot.

Also, Ace hardware did not have any pan head screws quite like these. The ones that they had that were in the drawer labeled panhead screws did not have as square ahead as the originals and we're more domed although they were panhead screws and not oval head screws

They were also not as large in diameter as the originals so I didn't bother getting them. But I have two oval head screws that were on the truck that I'd like to replace with the correct panhead screws. I don't want to pay $10 shipping from McMaster Carr or Jim Carter for a couple of screws.

Interestingly the original Star washers which fit nice and tight on the panhead screws have nine fingers. The replacements which do not fit as tight have 10 fingers

Ok heat it is

I could have dropped a few in the package I sent you.

You got that stuff boxed up and sent so fast I didn't have time to think!

It occurred to me shortly after you sent me the the tracking number

I found some matching pan head bolts locally. They didn't have the captive star washers, but were otherwise basically identical to the original ones. You might check another hardware store.

I found a good almost perfect match, without the attached star washers, at my local True Value Hardware store.

There is a True Value near me in Midtown. I'll head over there this week.