Hi!

A quick question, do you need to use new gaskets when you open the valve cover or can you leave the old ones and use RTV sealant? I live in a country where they dont sell too many chevys so the gaskets are a bit tricky to find. Anybody know any good online autostores that ship internationally?

Thanks!

 

you should be able to re-use the old ones as long as theyre not torn or misshapen. you shouldnt need rtv - just be careful not to overtighten them.

 

Yeah, if they come off fine, just clean them up and make sure that they fit into the valve cover properly and reinstall them once you're done workin' on the heads. I use a RTV in the corners on the valve cover to hold the gasket in, but not much more than a small dab. And yeah, overtorquing the covers can result in leaks.

 

will i need a torque metering wrench when i tighten the valve covers or do i just tighten "enough"?

 

The valve cover bolts are torqued to 9ft lbs or 106 inch lbs, In other words, not too tight. I usually just use a 1/4" drive ratchet and turn till it feels tight. If you over tighten you can distort the valve cover and squash the gasket out of place.
Like kyle said "then you will have a leak".

 

Which valve cover gaskets do you have, cork or rubber. Replace the cork ones, no doubt they will get destroyed when you take the valve cover off. If you have the rubber ones, clean em up and reuse them.

try Summit racing, I think they ship overseas.