Now that I have the motor sounding quite respectable in the daughter's bug and making very little noise apart from the usual VW 'whistle' courtesy of making the tappet gaps .005" instead of 015"...I was wondering what I did wrong when I put a new set of rocker cover gaskets on it.
It has those chrome rocker covers which I think came from Empi as when I took the old gaskets off the "Made in Taiwan" little gold label was still attached to the gasket seating area.
I have tried the new rubberised cork gaskets...no luck, I then put the old rubber ones back in..no luck, I then thought about 'glueing the dammed things to the rocker covers...but decided not to. I cleaned the gasket bearing surfaces on the heads and made sure they were spotless..still to no avail...the little bugger still manages to 'piddle' onto the drip tray as if it is defying me.. Though I must say the tin covers over the exhaust pipes look pretty new now that they are shiny black...lol
Any suggestions?
Would a set of Alloy covers maybe solve the problem..or should I get a standard set of black steel ones?
Fixer upperer of daughter's '69 Bug "Oscar"
Cheers
Gazza
Problem - Empi
Alloy - even worse
Get some original German
Futue te ipsum!!!
I have heard that chrome ones keep the heat in and don't dissipate it as well as plain black ones..is this true? and what sort of gaskets do you reccomend?
Fixer upperer of daughter's '69 Bug "Oscar"
Cheers
Gazza
The chrome ones are cheap chinese rubbish and are not flat
I just use cork and rub grease all over them first
Some people "gorilla snot" them to the rocker cover but i have never needed to do that
Futue te ipsum!!!
Fair enough...but the funny thing is..they weren't leaking before I pulled them off and put new ones on. Know anyone with a good set of originals they want to flog?
Fixer upperer of daughter's '69 Bug "Oscar"
Cheers
Gazza
I say this quote for you Gazza and not for Mr Dave Birchall (vw54) - "Have you tried Vintage Vee Dub (02) 9789-1777". Jokes aside, he has heaps there as I got a set only two weeks ago. Ring him and ask how much to send a set up.
Kev
I thought rebuilding a VW would be cheap - Shit I was wrong, just don't let the wife know !!!!
Click here for my (slowy) modded 1961 Beetle build.get stocko genuine German
n get new cork gaskets and smear grease on one side as to hold it in the cover then put on head and clamp up..
too easy
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As the previous say empi or any chrome covers allow the gasket to slip,get anoriginal set of covers,when you fit the gasket a thin run of contact cement on the cover,fit the gasket and let it set,this will stop the gasket walking whilst the engine is running.Make sure that the cover is aligned on the head prior to slipping the clip home.If you are stuck give me a call Cheers Les
Gazza265 wrote:Now that I have the motor sounding quite respectable in the daughter's bug and making very little noise apart from the usual VW 'whistle' courtesy of making the tappet gaps .005" instead of 015"...I was wondering what I did wrong when I put a new set of rocker cover gaskets on it.
It has those chrome rocker covers which I think came from Empi as when I took the old gaskets off the "Made in Taiwan" little gold label was still attached to the gasket seating area.
I have tried the new rubberised cork gaskets...no luck, I then put the old rubber ones back in..no luck, I then thought about 'glueing the dammed things to the rocker covers...but decided not to. I cleaned the gasket bearing surfaces on the heads and made sure they were spotless..still to no avail...the little bugger still manages to 'piddle' onto the drip tray as if it is defying me.. Though I must say the tin covers over the exhaust pipes look pretty new now that they are shiny black...lol
Any suggestions?
Would a set of Alloy covers maybe solve the problem..or should I get a standard set of black steel ones?
Hi
I glue mine to the tappet cover with avaition gasket cement
and use grease on the other side of the gasket...
Alloy ones seem great if You find some without casting flaws
I also only change My gaskets every few years unless they leak
some compress fast allowing oil to leak.. while others stay thick and still seal for a long time...
Some are made in Brasil some in the USA and some in Germany.... all different compounds....
now if they would place them in plastic bags with a brand on them... We would all know which ones to purchase.... lol
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
i had this problem when i supercharged the 1600 in my bu,s i finally asked a racer what they used and was told to weld or pop rivet two small tab on the in side of the gasket channel this i did and no more having the gasket pulled into the cover a simple fix
good luck
👍👍😂🙅🥷😬🤓
Thanks for the tips one and all...I suspect I will try that, I imagine you're talking about putting two 'tabs' in the long run of gasket channel in the lower long edge of the cover? The top edge seems to already have a small protrusion that holds the upper edge in place when it is placed in the vertical when fitting it to the head.
I suppose I could just use 3 or 4 small tabs that could be created by momentary applications of the Mig welder to the gasket channel.
I admit..the chrome looks nice...but is there any truth to what I've heard that it retains heat more than the plain black ones?
Fixer upperer of daughter's '69 Bug "Oscar"
Cheers
Gazza
Hi, i replace my tappet cover gaskets each time that i service the engine, i also run alloy tappet covers that cost me $26.00 US so there not exactly top of the range, they have orings under the two bolts and never had a leak from them, you do not over tighten them, about 8 ft/lbs, the tappet cover gaskets that i use are german and come from ISP West in the states, they are the best that i have seen, they are a nitrile rubber with a cork compound and the best thing is that they are 19.00 US for 24, also oil change kits from them are also german with the best quality gaskets and copper washers, $18.00US for 24, i got sick of paying through the nose for rubbish that is sold here, oil change kits that have steel washers that are copper plated and gaskets that are cracked out of the packet.
vwo60 wrote:Hi, i replace my tappet cover gaskets each time that i service the engine, i also run alloy tappet covers that cost me $26.00 US so there not exactly top of the range, they have orings under the two bolts and never had a leak from them, you do not over tighten them, about 8 ft/lbs, the tappet cover gaskets that i use are german and come from ISP West in the states, they are the best that i have seen, they are a nitrile rubber with a cork compound and the best thing is that they are 19.00 US for 24, also oil change kits from them are also german with the best quality gaskets and copper washers, $18.00US for 24, i got sick of paying through the nose for rubbish that is sold here, oil change kits that have steel washers that are copper plated and gaskets that are cracked out of the packet.
Hi
Yes I bought all My gaskets etc from the uSA...
the oil change gasket kits are excellent
I have bought the tappet cover gaskets from different places in the USA and there can be a great difference between cork or composite gaskets...
Some shops in the USA sell either cork [one use] or composite gaskets which can be reused and don't compress much when used..
You need to check where the gaskets etc originated..
as You can end up with good or poor quality gaskets...
I believe most of the large companies over there sell quality parts, and many give You the option of Brasil or USA or German made parts etc..
Most acknowledge that no one wants to buy poor quality gaskets.... that will leak....
You can also buy VW genuine parts made in Brasil..
some of these are OK, but they aren't the same quality of German made parts..
When it comes to push rod tube seals, buy the best You can find.. Silicon.. or OE VW Germany ones if You can find them...
LEE- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
A lot of the problem with leaking covers is the bails. Cheap aftermarket bails never seem have enough tension as the originals do.
My method for leak free covers is to permatex the new gaskets to the cover and change with quallity gaskets every time I pull them off.
Just wondering, what modifications do I need to do to fit alloy rocker covers that require 2 bolts to hold them on?
Fixer upperer of daughter's '69 Bug "Oscar"
Cheers
Gazza
they just come with barrel nuts to replace the nuts that hold the rocker arms on
well atleast dads are like that anyway
ive always just glued the gasket to the cover like the others have mentioned and pre-oil the head side of it
works well, ive seen alot of times where the gasket has jumped outta place when fitting when not glued
Because I service a lot of beetle engines, I hate glueing them on as the clean up next service is apita. Some of my old factory trained mechanics used to tell stories of lines of them glued on and clamped to old heads for the servicing the next day (a good job for the apprentice 😂). I use cork and put them on CLEAN and dry, if the bailey clip has the correct tension they don't leak. My old drag engine used to suck the gaskets in on a big back off from 8500-9000 rpm so I welded the little tabs inside, 2 on top and 3 on the bottom, no more problems. Now Scat makes a nice shiney s/s tappet cover with the tabs that uses the og clips, work well to.
Certainly the steel sump plate copper coated washers are crap.
Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
Thank you Eraser for the rocker covers, I hit them with the wire wheel, acetone dipped and etch primed them before a coat of high temp gloss black paint was sprayed.
I then used new gaskets with non-hardening aviation cement to keep them in place and had placed a coating of axle grease on the bearing surface.
One thing I noticed was that the bails were much harder to slip up and lock on these OEM covers than it was on those chrome EMPI ones.
I checked the oil and then drove to Richmond from Medowie via the F3 and when I arived I checked under the car and 'viola'...not a drop of oil was to be seen.
So..I'm happy now that 'Oscar' has stopped piddling everywhere and all I need to do no is get a set of 6mm threaded studs to replace the 'unable' to be tightened sump plate nuts.
Fixer upperer of daughter's '69 Bug "Oscar"
Cheers
Gazza
Joel wrote:ive seen alot of times where the gasket has jumped outta place when fitting when not glued
happened to me twice last year. and i didn't notice it until the light comes up when i turn corners. good thing i had a 1 liter bottle in the car.
its good to see the original rocker covers worked to stop the leak👍
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https://www.facebook.com/FlatFourMoral of the story - use original and genuine Volkswagen parts wherever possible. Keep the chrome aftermarket crap for the ricer boys.
Wasser boxer clips are even better,
covers may be better too, but primarily with the clip.
Look closely at the condition of the holes where tha bail locates,
and partcularly with aftermarket covers, that the edge does not bottom out on the head.
Newer heads can have slightly different castings and the cover hits before the gasket can compress.
I use no sealant on stock engines, and hipo engines sometimes get the gasketglued to the cover with your favourite sealant(but not always)
westi wrote:That's mad Alan.
dangerous wrote:I use no sealant on stock engines, and hipo engines sometimes get the gasketglued to the cover with your favourite sealant(but not always)
👍 👍 👍Matt Berry Motorsports...air cooled advice, repairs and mods Ph 0408 704 662
OFF-ROAD,CIRCUIT,DRAG,STREET,ENDURANCE
Gazza265 wrote:Thank you Eraser for the rocker covers, I hit them with the wire wheel, acetone dipped and etch primed them before a coat of high temp gloss black paint was sprayed.
I then used new gaskets with non-hardening aviation cement to keep them in place and had placed a coating of axle grease on the bearing surface.
One thing I noticed was that the bails were much harder to slip up and lock on these OEM covers than it was on those chrome EMPI ones.
all I need to do no is get a set of 6mm threaded studs to replace the 'unable' to be tightened sump plate nuts.
Yes, The spring bails need to be extra tight...
the harder to put on/off the better...
they are also a renewable part...
they can lose some of their tension over the years..
everyone should have an extra set of those sump nuts...
You can get away by using nyloc nuts but they tend to leak.
I always use a sump gasket kit each oil change... so no leaks..
last time I couldn't tighten the nuts....
I found I still had three old sump gaskets on there..... lol
LEE
- Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY---
