samdjr74

Hi All,

I did a search but didn't find anything that fit my issue. When I bought my Corvette I knew it had an oil leak. At first it was thought to be the rear main or oil pan but both were ruled out so then I figured it was coming from the distributor, wrong again. The problem is the stock stamped steel valves covers are warped and not making a good seal. Ok no big deal I'll replace them with some aluminum ones, new gaskets and be done with it. Well looking at all of the options out there I just wanted to see what the group uses and recommends? A good set of covers aren't that cheap and I'd hate to buy a few sets before getting the ones that work correctly. My car has the L48 motor if that helps with my valve cover choices.

Thanks,
Sam

AirborneSilva

I'm thinking about these

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z50000050G~~~

Or go with the stock L82's but they are not cheap!

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z50000050G~~~

Easy Mike

How are your blacksmithing skills? A little work on your part and you could straighten the rails on your stock covers. They can bend when people lay 90 pounds of torque on the bolts in the mistaken belief tighter is better.

dan1495

Mike is correct. I had the same issue on my 72 and I fixed it by straightening the mating surface and using some Felpro Cork-Lam gaskets. However, I really like the L-82 style valve covers myself!

samdjr74

I like the L82's as well and considering I have a L82 air cleaner (no idea why) They wouldn't look bad.

I could however try to correct the stock covers, I might do that and just keep them in the garage for later use.

jcloving

I wanted to keep my engine looking stock for the time being. I had oil dripping down onto the manifolds so I knew I had to replace the gaskets.

I cleaned and painted the valve covers and then put down a thin coating of silicone on the valve cover. I then laid down the gasket and put a second layer on the other side of the gasket.

I cleaned the head gasket surface very well then put the cover down and lightly bolted the covers down. The next day I came back and slowly torqued them down.

No leaks so far in three years.

samdjr74

Ok, this sounds good. Did you use any special type of silicon?

Thanks,
Sam

qwank

All 1980 Corvettes got the dual snorkel air cleaner.

I like the L-82 covers as well.

If you want something aftermarket, I like these:


http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pr...make/chevrolet

samdjr74

Thanks for the info, what is really confusing, all the catalogs show the single snorkel air cleaner for 76 to 81. So at least my air cleaner is stock lol

I'm going to try and clean up the old ones, fix the warped areas and use the silicon trick before jumping into a set of aluminum ones.

terry82

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...ebay&FORM=IGRE

Hideki

L48's look best with the stock L82 covers.

samdjr74

And that's what I ended up doing, swapping the original for L82's. They look great and no more leaks

doorgunner

Buy a piece of "scrap" countertop granite....You can use it for many things.....

like setting a valve cover on it to see where the warps are so you can straighten the sealing areas....

like laying sandpaper on the granite---rough side up---so you can lap-in/flatten rough sealing surfaces on water pumps, carb removable-bowls that seep/leak fuel.....

like caliper bodies where the two halves bolt together, but have been dinged up over the yea.....errrr.....decades....

like drive/half-shaft flange ends that have been....you know!

jkippin

Felpro has a good set of gaskets that is a Silicon Rubber I believe with a steel reinforcement. It also has inserts around the bolt hole to limit how much crush you can put on the gasket. The set also comes with Spreader Bars and I believe bolts. Not a cheap set at $36.00 bux but I have never had a problem with them. Clean the valve cover real good apply a light coat of weather-strip adhesive to glue them to the cover, clean the head side real good. Here is a trick apply a light coat of Vaseline to the head side only this will allow you to remove them later and reuse them.
I've been doing it this way for 20 years on various motors and never had one leak.

Iceaxe

I use Fel-pro 1628 valve cover gaskets on my small block and never had a leak. The gaskets are reusable and require no sealers or adhesives. The gaskets are a little pricey but once you use them you will never buy another set or have leak issues.