HELP on 1966 383ci valve cover spreader bars
- Thread starter rl000999
- Start date
Mopar never used them that I have ever seen. You are on your own there.
Those bars are chromed versions of some that were used on Chevrolets in the 1980s or so.
--- DO NOT always trust what the seller claims! Once they have your money, it's gone. PLUS . . . on Chevrolets, they looked good but did NOT fix the issue of valve cover oil seeps. The chrome does not help seal better, either, but looks good.
--- The advertising by "a seller" that their website's parts "fit perfectly" has some fine print attached, by observation. "Exact fit (guaranteed), with modifications" is the "fine print". That means a universal-fit part that might work fine, but might need some tweaking IF it will fit your application. ---
RATHER, tap the valve cover flanges flat with a hammer on the flat part of a bench vise. Whish was normal procedure, back then. Then find a gasket that is NOT rubberized cork! The reason that those gaskets eventually seeped was the cork would wick the oil through it to the outside, no matter how much the covers were tightened (which distorted the flange).
My "cheap fix", which has worked for decades, is to take a normal pair of cork gaskets and put a skin coat of high-heat sealer on them, all sides, smeared on with an index finger. Texture from your fingerprints is good, which is inevitable. Just a thin coat to seal the cork from oil. Let it cure overnight and then install. Make sure the sealing surfaces are clean, dry, and level. Just snug the covers down, ONLY. Using wrist action rather than arm action. Holding the ratchet at its center, rather than at the end of the handle. Then after a week of use (hot and cold engine heat cycles), re-snugging for good measure. Done.
If, later on, you have to pull the covers off for another reason, you can re-skim-coat what's there and re-use the gaskets. Provided you didn't break them, or maybe just use the sealer so glue them back together?
Has worked for me since the middle 1980s,
CBODY67
--- DO NOT always trust what the seller claims! Once they have your money, it's gone. PLUS . . . on Chevrolets, they looked good but did NOT fix the issue of valve cover oil seeps. The chrome does not help seal better, either, but looks good.
--- The advertising by "a seller" that their website's parts "fit perfectly" has some fine print attached, by observation. "Exact fit (guaranteed), with modifications" is the "fine print". That means a universal-fit part that might work fine, but might need some tweaking IF it will fit your application. ---
RATHER, tap the valve cover flanges flat with a hammer on the flat part of a bench vise. Whish was normal procedure, back then. Then find a gasket that is NOT rubberized cork! The reason that those gaskets eventually seeped was the cork would wick the oil through it to the outside, no matter how much the covers were tightened (which distorted the flange).
My "cheap fix", which has worked for decades, is to take a normal pair of cork gaskets and put a skin coat of high-heat sealer on them, all sides, smeared on with an index finger. Texture from your fingerprints is good, which is inevitable. Just a thin coat to seal the cork from oil. Let it cure overnight and then install. Make sure the sealing surfaces are clean, dry, and level. Just snug the covers down, ONLY. Using wrist action rather than arm action. Holding the ratchet at its center, rather than at the end of the handle. Then after a week of use (hot and cold engine heat cycles), re-snugging for good measure. Done.
If, later on, you have to pull the covers off for another reason, you can re-skim-coat what's there and re-use the gaskets. Provided you didn't break them, or maybe just use the sealer so glue them back together?
Has worked for me since the middle 1980s,
CBODY67
commando1
Old Man with a Hat
eBay? There's a miniscule chance of a refund. Go for it.
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