The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk offenhauser valve covers

hi everybody, i ordered two offenhauser aluminum valve covers for my 235 and a friends 235 six cylinder, well they turned up but both the valve covers have the mounting holes on top of them like the 216 valve cover would have, instead of having the mounting holes at the side like the 235 has. I checked the part numbers that we ordered and we definatly ordered the right part number, the valve covers were ordered from speedway motors. so have I got the wrong parts or, is there a way of fitting the valve covers to the 235?? thanks in advance for any help
Danny

Limey, you need to order a set of vlave cover studs for a 216 engine. These will allow you to use the valve covers. These studs replace 2 of the bolts in your rocker arm assembly.

Limey; Tom Langdon usually ships the studs and hold down nuts with the cover when you buy it from him. He may be able to sell this to you separately.

I've noticed a couple things about "Speedway", they've got a beautiful catalog, but they don't go into much detail about what their item does, or doesn't include. I presume, that they assume, that you know exactly what you need and nothing more.

On the other hand, there are other suppliers that go to the other extreme. I've found suppliers like Classic Parts of America (as well as others)that are more user friendly, and have a detailed description of what is included with the component you are ordering.

As an example, the above mentioned supplier offers a "Valve cover stud kit" which includes all the little stuff you're going to need to install your 2 hole valve cover on a 235. It is part #86-105A @$11.95 USD.

The Offenhauser cover you received, is the standard cover offered by most suppliers. However, to get the cover to seal properly, you're going to need a spacer that moves the thermostat housing out 1/4". The cast valve covers seal well, but protrude outside the normal steel cover sealing area. Langdon Stovebolt Engine Co. is sold out of the 1/4" spacer@$15. USD but has a 5/8" that is drilled and tapped for applications that use water heat to warm the intake. ($25.)

To the best of my knowledge, there are currently no cast aluminum covers with the stock arrangement of 4 holes being offered for the 235. I hope this helps!

thanks very much for all your answers guys, I can now sort out the fitting studs kit, this truly is the best place to come for advice and help!

many thanks
Danny..

I bought mine from Offy many years ago and it came with the stud kit with some rubber grommets which were pretty much just cut pieces of rubber fuel line. It also came with a note mentioning the possibilty of having to add an extra thermostat gasket like was mentioned earlier but mine fit and cleared well with the standard gasket.