Cracked Valve Cover

[plastic_cow]

I could use a little advice on this one...
I got my engine put together... with my minimal mechanical ability, this is a monumental feat... however, since I put larger rocker arms in 1.6'ers and tried to turn it over, the valve cover on the pass side has cracked... crapola right below the oil fill plug, where the valve cover dips slightly down towards the rocker arms...
My mechanic friend (who's knowelege is mostly chevy based...) suggested that it may be that slight dip that made the difference in crackin' my valve covers...
Has anyone else had this problem? I need a cheap/quick fix for this (barring jb weld and a dremmel to grind the valve cover bottom smaller... I've seen aftermarket valve covers at Autozone/Advance, etc... for $50, how tall are the stock valve covers and will the aftermarket ones at autozone work?
I was suppose to have the stang out of the garage on Sunday and I'm already one day over budget and don't have much more than $50 to spend on fixing it... any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[plastic_cow]

here's a link to something like the rocker arms I bought
(edit: link revised to the acutal part, not all comp cams ra's)

 

[vristang]

jb weld and a grinder worked wonders for me.

But if you really need to do it easy and cheap, then the $50 covers sound decent. You will need to measure them out to make sure it will clear though. Maybe someone else here can measure them for you? My spare VC's are about 1.5hrs from where I am.

I would get a used cover from a yard, grind the !@#$ out of it, and jb weld in a new baffle. If you get really creative, I have heard of people re-drilling the valve cover, so that the baffle can still be bolted in.

good luck dude
jason

 

[plastic_cow]

Any other ideas?

 

[86bluecobra]

go buy a set of tall valve covers. thats what i had to do.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

A set of tall valve covers will likely hit the underside of the upper intake. Are the rockers you have pedestal or stud? I had some '93 Cobra style Crane pedestal rockers on my '89 GT and they just barely fit under stock covers after I made a new filler neck baffle. Go to a yard and get a new set of covers(or just one if you like). I got mine from a local you-pull for ~$15. If all you did was poke a hole in it with a rocker tip, then JB wil be the quick and ugly fix that costs almost as much as a junkyard valvecover.

To prevent it from happening again, you could glue together two sets of rubber gaskets.

 

[plastic_cow]

I think I may try taller VC's, if they have a problem fitting under the GT-40 intake, I'll put the spacer I didn't want to put in, that may give enough room, and since then it wont fit under the hood, I'll just cut a hole in the top of the hood for now... until tax refund time and I get a different hood... lol
Does anyone know how tall VC's should be for the rockers I have?

 

[plastic_cow]

Since I'm a novice, if I do put the go to a pick a part yard and tear one out, & throw it on my car after cutting out and re-jbwelding the baffel back on, any suggestions so I don't jack it (f-it up) up too badly?

I'd have to get a new valve cover from the junk yard... since my old one is cracked all the way around the oil fill plug... pretty badly...

 

[vristang]

Since I'm a novice, if I do put the go to a pick a part yard and tear one out, & throw it on my car after cutting out and re-jbwelding the baffel back on, any suggestions so I don't jack it (f-it up) up too badly?

I'd have to get a new valve cover from the junk yard... since my old one is cracked all the way around the oil fill plug... pretty badly...

jb weld (or any adhesive for that matter) will work just as well as you prep the bonding surfaces. If you do not scuff and thoroughly clean all parts of the bond line, then the bond strength will suffer.
Other than that, mock it up, then, mock it up, then prep the surfaces, then mock it up again, then get out the adhesive.
Maybe I can find a pic of what I did, when I get home tonight?

 

[5spd GT]

You could use jbweld or silicone real quick for a quick fix. The latter would the last thing to try.

Try buying some cork gaskets to give you extra cleareance and still put you under the upper intake.

Good Luck!

 

[plastic_cow]

jb weld (or any adhesive for that matter) will work just as well as you prep the bonding surfaces. If you do not scuff and thoroughly clean all parts of the bond line, then the bond strength will suffer.
Other than that, mock it up, then, mock it up, then prep the surfaces, then mock it up again, then get out the adhesive.
Maybe I can find a pic of what I did, when I get home tonight?

That'd be quite helpful!
It cracked when I had one set of cork gaskets in... don't I need to switch to rubber to put 2 sets of gaskets in? Anyway, I'll try the mock up...
Thanks for all the help!

 

[1991vert]

i dont even have an oil baffle. i grinded down the baffle bosses also. so it's pretty much flat under there. dunno if that helps u out. i havent had any problems