Got some bolt on alluminium rocker covers from v force and put them on last nite.
all in all they seemed to be quite well made, everything matched up. but i cant seem to get them to seal, this morning when i came out to drive the car (i had driven the car the night before a few times but had checked the after the first short drive and thought they were ok) and noticed a puddle under each cover. so i pulled them off and cleaned everything up, put some new gasgets on them and put it all back together, got about 4ks on the highway before i smelt burning oil. so i pulled over and it was just the drivers side cover, off it came again, cleaned up all the mating surfaces and put it back on and drove into town. drivers side leaking again and passenger side weeping a little, took them off again and re fitted, they seem to be leaking less now but are still leaking.
my stock covers never leaked but i wanted bolt ons in case the stock bail clips get knocked off.
any suggestions
nick
62/60 model bug eye baja bug, (Full Build in Progress)
1974 Chevrolet Luv
1970 MK2 Ford Cortina GT
1979 Yamaha RX125 Two Stroke tracker project.
2004 Harley Davidson Sportster XL Custom
Measure height of the post and fepth from the inner sealig face on the cover to the bottom of the seat and you'll know right away...and put the straight edge across the covers...
68AutoBugBeetle Restorer - Experience over 138\% - YIKES --
Hi Nick
many of the aluminium tappet covers whether held on with bails or bolts/nuts etc... aren't cast too well
and need a sealant like permatex non hardening sealant to stop them leaking... the spring bails do lose their tension over the years and are supposed to be replaced if they are too easy to take off...
at their correct tension they will never come off...
most aftermarket aluminium covers I have seen have many cast marks etc, which shouldn't be there when You are sealing against oil....
there are also aftermarket covers that need special seals too.... I've seen them on CIP1 or somewhere..
Do the covers you have , have the country they were made in on them...?? Taiwan PRC ??
I find most chinese made EMPI branded parts are rubbish..
they might look good in the packet... Most parts made in the USA are excellent quality...
best of luck
LEE
Anthiron wrote:Got some bolt on alluminium rocker covers from v force and put them on last nite.
all in all they seemed to be quite well made, everything matched up. but i cant seem to get them to seal, this morning when i came out to drive the car (i had driven the car the night before a few times but had checked the after the first short drive and thought they were ok) and noticed a puddle under each cover. so i pulled them off and cleaned everything up, put some new gasgets on them and put it all back together, got about 4ks on the highway before i smelt burning oil. so i pulled over and it was just the drivers side cover, off it came again, cleaned up all the mating surfaces and put it back on and drove into town. drivers side leaking again and passenger side weeping a little, took them off again and re fitted, they seem to be leaking less now but are still leaking.
my stock covers never leaked but i wanted bolt ons in case the stock bail clips get knocked off.
any suggestions
nick
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
G'day mate. I had a similar problem with a set like those once.
I found that a nice bead of blue rtv on the sealing face of the rocker covers did the trick.
I also used new standard gaskets and smeared them with a little grease on the side that contacts the head.
If your rockers are shimmed it might also be the cause due to the height of the threaded hex pieces that come in the kit?
Hope this helps. If not I'm sure others with more experience will get this sorted for ya!
as type3lover said a decent bead of sealent on the rocker coverside and lightly oil the head side
i;ve always done it this way and it works well, no leaks
even plain old roofers silicon does the trick
thats the root of the problem but if the sealing surface is nice and clean with no dags or bad casting the and bolts are applying even tension you will be able to get them to seal
I use the reuseable non cork gaskets and have them glued to the rocker covers with permatex no3..
I then coat the other surface of the gasket with thick chassis grease....
My bails are very strong..
Mine never leak....
if worse comes to worse...
You could try two gaskets???
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
Generally speaking it's OK to use a sealant on the rocker cover side of the gasket, but if you use a goo, sealant, silicone, mastic etc., on the engine side, it will cook on and will stick like the proverbial to a blanket.
You will have Hells' own job getting the covers off and then you will have to clean off the surface to be able to fit another gasket.
I use 'roof & gutter' silicone on both sides of my gaskets all the time (I am a builder). They take a little to get them off (once you have the knack though, it is easy), but the surface on the head is nearly always clean. If it isn't, it only takes a go with a scraper to clean it. I never have leaks from around the tappet covers, and on 2 occasions over the years, have discovered one of the bails unclipped, but the tappet cover didn't move or leak. I did have bolt on tappet covers at one stage, and often used to battle with small leaks around the bolts.
Wow, what a thread over something like rocker covers!! I'd get bolt-ons for pretty but to me it's like adding 2 more spots for oil to leak from. I've never had the spring clips ever get knocked off (I have a funny feeling that I shouldn't have said that) but it's not to say it won't happen but with off road if you're bashing about wouldn't cast alloy covers get smashed or cracked just as easy as a clip getting knocked off without the benefit off just being able to clip them back on? Just a thought.
