Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
- JLT
- Old School!
- Location: Sacramento CA
- Status: Offline
Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
While doing my customary 3000 mile valve adjustment (which I calculate was around #100 for me), I got to thinking about all the stuff I'd heard about how people apply them. Some folks install them dry. Some folks use nothing but a little dab of wheel bearing grease on each side. Some glue them to the valve covers using a variety of stickums.
I've done all these things at one time or another. My current set-up is to glue the gaskets to the covers with something called "Gaskacinch" and putting a little wheel bearing grease on the gasket where it makes contact with the head. It works for me.
What methods do you all use?
I've done all these things at one time or another. My current set-up is to glue the gaskets to the covers with something called "Gaskacinch" and putting a little wheel bearing grease on the gasket where it makes contact with the head. It works for me.
What methods do you all use?
-- JLT
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
- wcfvw69
- Old School!
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
With a little hello included,wcfvw69 wrote:http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/viewtop ... 43&t=12801
"hello JLT, nice to see you around these parts! How's the VW these days?"
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- JLT
- Old School!
- Location: Sacramento CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
Thanks for the link. I must have missed that one. Lots of good advice and war stories, but no mention of Gaskacinch. I heard about it from the guys at Kombi Haus in Sacramento, who use it all the time.wcfvw69 wrote:http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/viewtop ... 43&t=12801
-- JLT
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
So how's your VW? Gaskacinch, Indian Head Shellac, all the same old school . . .JLT wrote:Thanks for the link. I must have missed that one. Lots of good advice and war stories, but no mention of Gaskacinch. I heard about it from the guys at Kombi Haus in Sacramento, who use it all the time.wcfvw69 wrote:http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/viewtop ... 43&t=12801
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- SlowLane
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Livermore, CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
My stickum of preference is Hylomar. Fantastic stuff. Holds the gasket firmly in place, but doesn't harden like shellac, so removal of the gasket from the valve cover when you eventually do replace it isn't an exercise in scraping and chiselling the old gasket off.JLT wrote: Some glue them to the valve covers using a variety of stickums.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
- JLT
- Old School!
- Location: Sacramento CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
That's how Gaskacinch works, too.SlowLane wrote: My stickum of preference is Hylomar. Fantastic stuff. Holds the gasket firmly in place, but doesn't harden like shellac, so removal of the gasket from the valve cover when you eventually do replace it isn't an exercise in scraping and chiselling the old gasket off.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
-
- IAC Addict!
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
Gaskacinch...I'm getting a can just to look at on the shop shelf...Indian head I'll use, this is for the "art"!
- SlowLane
- IAC Addict!
- Location: Livermore, CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
IIRC, from a can I had years ago, Gaskacinch is more like rubber cement than anything else. I seem to recall that it was also marketed as "belt dressing" to restore grippiness to old v-belts that had gotten shiny and varnished.JLT wrote:That's how Gaskacinch works, too.SlowLane wrote: My stickum of preference is Hylomar. Fantastic stuff. Holds the gasket firmly in place, but doesn't harden like shellac, so removal of the gasket from the valve cover when you eventually do replace it isn't an exercise in scraping and chiselling the old gasket off.
Hylomar, on the other hand, is a more modern polyurethane sealant. It's resistant to fuels as well as oils. But it definitely doesn't have the art-work that Gaskacinch does.
'81 Canadian Westfalia (2.0L, manual), now Californiated
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
- Terry Pratchett
- JLT
- Old School!
- Location: Sacramento CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
Still rolling. I was doing an oil change today and noticed that George had lost its tailpipe somewhere down the road.Amskeptic wrote: "hello JLT, nice to see you around these parts! How's the VW these days?"
Colin
And since it looks like rain is in the forecast, I'm going to let the boys at Kombi Haus to my 3K mile compression test. I've already done the valve adjust, oil change, etc.
I want to make sure that the bus is in shape for Buses By the Bridge XX.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
- JLT
- Old School!
- Location: Sacramento CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
An update:
I sprang a leak on my left valve cover on the way back from Buses By the Bridge ... the gasket slipped off the lip of the head and I lost about two quarts of oil in as many miles. As fortune had it, I was near a rest area so I pulled into a space and got to work.
The Gaskacinch didn't cinch ... it just fell off the valve cover. So I used a spare gasket, put it on dry, filled the crank-case with the one and a half quarts I had in the car, and continued on down the road. I bought another quart at the next service station I passed, which brought the engine up to full.
When I got back to Sacramento, I went over to Kombi Haus and talked with Justin and one of the mechanics. I found out that they had given up on Gaskacinch and went back to Permatex Aviation Form-a-Gasket. That kinda makes sense, since the VW engine thinks it's an aircraft engine anyway. I remember using this stuff back in the seventies, and don't recall ever having a problem with it apart from it being hard to scrape off the valve covers sometimes.
I'm writing up my experiences with the Buses By the Bridge trip for my blog, and will post a link in the "General Chat" area when it's up.
I sprang a leak on my left valve cover on the way back from Buses By the Bridge ... the gasket slipped off the lip of the head and I lost about two quarts of oil in as many miles. As fortune had it, I was near a rest area so I pulled into a space and got to work.
The Gaskacinch didn't cinch ... it just fell off the valve cover. So I used a spare gasket, put it on dry, filled the crank-case with the one and a half quarts I had in the car, and continued on down the road. I bought another quart at the next service station I passed, which brought the engine up to full.
When I got back to Sacramento, I went over to Kombi Haus and talked with Justin and one of the mechanics. I found out that they had given up on Gaskacinch and went back to Permatex Aviation Form-a-Gasket. That kinda makes sense, since the VW engine thinks it's an aircraft engine anyway. I remember using this stuff back in the seventies, and don't recall ever having a problem with it apart from it being hard to scrape off the valve covers sometimes.
I'm writing up my experiences with the Buses By the Bridge trip for my blog, and will post a link in the "General Chat" area when it's up.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
- Amskeptic
- IAC "Help Desk"
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
I will continue to use Indian Head Shellac until contra-indicated.
What alerted you?
Colin
( ) smoke in the rear view mirror
( ) oil warning light
( ) connecting rod bouncing off the ceiling
What alerted you?
Colin
( ) smoke in the rear view mirror
( ) oil warning light
( ) connecting rod bouncing off the ceiling
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles
- JLT
- Old School!
- Location: Sacramento CA
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
Oil warning light. It just flickered at first, and then came on solid red when I turned off the freeway and the bus dropped to idle as I coasted in.Amskeptic wrote:I
What alerted you?
Colin
( ) smoke in the rear view mirror
( ) oil warning light
( ) connecting rod bouncing off the ceiling
Just lucky, I guess.
-- JLT
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
Sacramento CA
Present bus: '71 Dormobile Westie "George"
(sometimes towing a '65 Allstate single-wheel trailer)
Former buses: '61 17-window Deluxe "Pink Bus"
'70 Frankenwestie "Blunder Bus"
'71 Frankenwestie "Thunder Bus"
- asiab3
- IAC Addict!
- Location: San Diego, CA
- Contact:
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
Wow, major crisis averted! Glad you caught it...
I had a few light dribbles once that were from poor cork gasket installations on my part. Then I had a profound cloud of smoke using the FelPro (store brand) gaskets from FLAPS once during rush hour on I-5. No bueno, and never again! I like to think my oil pressure gauge would catch a catastrophic failure before it happened, but I don't glance at it more than once a minute or so.
Does anybody think crankcase pressure/vacuum plays into helping these leaks along?
Robbie
I had a few light dribbles once that were from poor cork gasket installations on my part. Then I had a profound cloud of smoke using the FelPro (store brand) gaskets from FLAPS once during rush hour on I-5. No bueno, and never again! I like to think my oil pressure gauge would catch a catastrophic failure before it happened, but I don't glance at it more than once a minute or so.
Does anybody think crankcase pressure/vacuum plays into helping these leaks along?
Robbie
1969 bus, "Buddy."
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.
145k miles with me.
322k miles on Earth.
-
- I'm New!
- Status: Offline
Re: Valve cover gaskets -- how do you like to install 'em?
I have used either Gaskacinch or Permatex Aviation Sealer for a good many years on my own vehicles and customer vehicles, without a single failure. Crankcase pressures may possibly, in some cases contribute to V / C leaks in high RPM engines, but a V / C cover and gasket just slipping off the head is more of a faulty installation, to my thinking at least. These V /C covers are not easily installed and they can appear to be secure when they are not. Ainokea