Gary Lewis Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 Good old Corvair valve cover hold downs! Work great on brand C engines. I have seen small ones on some Fords, notably the 2.8, 2.9 3.0 and 4.0 European derived V6s. Yep, I used those on a 350 I built once. Worked fine, but I think the better approach is to buy a pair of cast valve covers. They won't bend, so seal much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myrl883 Posted March 5, 2018 Share Posted March 5, 2018 Yep, I used those on a 350 I built once. Worked fine, but I think the better approach is to buy a pair of cast valve covers. They won't bend, so seal much better. You don't mention what year or engine that you have, but here's my $.02... Assuming that you have a small block, use valve covers that have the edge rolled up, not down over the edge of the head - I think they are '85 and newer. Don't waste your time on cork or rubber gaskets, as they both suck! The only gasket worth your time are OE Ford or MAHLE (Ford's OE manufacturer). They are a steel gasket with a rubber strip bonded to them. They act as a spacer so you don't bend the flange of the covers and they'll never leak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeagleRock Posted March 6, 2018 Author Share Posted March 6, 2018 You don't mention what year or engine that you have, but here's my $.02... Assuming that you have a small block, use valve covers that have the edge rolled up, not down over the edge of the head - I think they are '85 and newer. Don't waste your time on cork or rubber gaskets, as they both suck! The only gasket worth your time are OE Ford or MAHLE (Ford's OE manufacturer). They are a steel gasket with a rubber strip bonded to them. They act as a spacer so you don't bend the flange of the covers and they'll never leak. Sorry about that, I replaced them back in mid January with felpro rubber gaskets and permatex black and so far so good! Can clean driveway now BTW it's an 83 w/351W. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted March 6, 2018 Share Posted March 6, 2018 YThe only gasket worth your time are OE Ford or MAHLE (Ford's OE manufacturer). They are a steel gasket with a rubber strip bonded to them. They act as a spacer so you don't bend the flange of the covers and they'll never leak. I just picked up a set of the Fel-Pro Permadry~PLus valve cover gaskets...part # VS13264T, for my '84 302. They're expensive, but seem to have good reviews...much like the OEM Ford gaskets you're referring to. These ones have the metal core as well. Fel-Pro says to install them dry. I also bought the Permadry Plus 1pc oil pan gasket, which was also very expensive, but again, good reviews as far as I could tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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