How often do valve cover gaskets go bad?

[MysteryMachine]

SN needs a like button like facebook haha. Good luck with your upgrade. I know it will be a while but I look forward to your new found happiness with the bigger heads

 

[Adam95GT]

I tried longer bolts today and they would not bite down. So with that being the last thing I can think of to try I decided to do what needed to be done. I'm in the process of taking the heads off now. Have it torn down to the heads and the rockers off on one side. Just have to unbolt the header b/c I cant get the lower bolts on the head b/c the header gets in the way. I'm going to put them up for sale saying they need 2 repaired bolt holes and then save up the rest for a set of 205CNC Trickflows

Awesome. Well the 205's sorry about your issue...

 

[revhead347]

Can't argue with your choices there. 205cnc Trick Flows are bad ass heads.

Kurt

 

[Venom351R]

Thanks guys. I always had a feeling that my combo was not performing to its full potential. I mean I have a 351 putting out 344 RWHP. I should be able to make 1 HP per cubic inch. I know my lower compression is not the best for NA but still.....

so I figured if I'm going to go through all the trouble of taking the heads off I might as well sell them for what I can get for them (with a kick ass valve spring kit on them) and save up for a set of bitching Trickflow heads.

Here is some progress I made today. I'll probably make a build thread as well.

 

[Chythar]

Wow. All this work because of what seemed like a simple valve cover leak. I hate it when that happens - you try to fix one problem, and another one rears its head.

Good luck, Venom. Looking forward to the build thread.

 

[Venom351R]

what sucks more is that this yer is pretty much a write off as far as the track. I made two trips and no new best times. But perhaps it was all for the best.

The oil leak just never wanted to go away no matter what I did and two intakes later it became apparent that there as something more going on. After thinking it was the vC's I came to realize that the oil was coming right up through the intake between the heads which pointed the finger to the fact that I have 2 bolt holes in the head that are stripped and made it more apparent that it was my issue the whole time.


One other thing suggested is that the intake may need to be planed down to properly fit between the heads as suggested on another msg board and that it could have been the cause of my leak. Such as the ports not lineing up perfectly and thus throwing everything off. Not sure how likely that is but I just thought I would throw that out there too

 

[castine917]

planing the intake sounds less likely as 2 different intakes did it.

 

[Venom351R]

good point. I think starting over with fresh heads is the best way to go

 

[stangbangerrick]

I have used these valve cover gaskets and never had a leak, and you can use then over and over. So far I've have used the same set of gaskets 5 times and still no leaks. One of the best ways to fix a stripped bolt hole is with a helicoil kit. Also when the intake manifold goes through one heat cycle you are suppose to retorque the bolts for they will all be lose, now this is no big issue on a carb engine but on a EFI engine you have to remove the upper plenum to do this which is a pain in the butt. Make sure you are using the right valve covers, EFI valve cover have no flanged edges also check to see if the pvc valve is working. If the pressure that builds up in the engine is not ventilated it will blow oil at the lowest point of resistance.

Earl s Performance 29E03AERL - Earl's Performance Pressure Master Valve Cover Seals - Overview - SummitRacing.com