I am trying to redo my valve covers, the gasket, and my spark plugs.

I cant get the covers off. It seems the drivers side is hitting the a/c. I guess i have to remove the a/c unit.
ANY POINTERS HERE ?

the right side doesnt even shake loose.
I notice there is some metal clip on the back of the valve near the fire wall, but i dont think that matters ? I also notice there is a piece of metal on the rear top side that sits very close.
ANY POINTERS HERE ? I dont know what to take off or remove.

ALSO

The book says use RTV sealent ?
Should I use this ? Or just the new gasket. That is when i get to putting them on.




HAS any one sand blasted the covers ?

 

Is it me, or does taking off the ac item seems like a hhuge pain in the ***** ?

Some help please !

 

Dan,

I have done mine on my 85 both sides. I dont remember messing with the ac at all. I do remember both sides being a pain in the *****. there is a tech tip on 85 valve cover removal but I think it is just for the other (alternator) side. I will take a look on mine to see if I can recall how i did it. I did use the Haynes manual.

 

There is no need to remove the ac compressor. For me, it was just a general pain, lots of gentle jockeying, shimmying, and manipulating the valve cover for it to clear the rockers arms, but it came off. I removed the electrical connectors to the injectors and the hold down tabs on the top to give me a little more room.

I don't think silicone is necessary with any type of vc gasket, but I don't see how it could hurt either, unless its gobbed on too heavy. Not overtorquing the nuts is more important, IMO.

 

Passenger side will require removing the breather tube and pushing some connectors around. When tiy get it loose, pus it towards the firewall as you lift the front up and towards the TB.

Drivers side requires removing a couple brackets to the air pump and the alternator. Then tap it loose enough to manipulate. Push towards the firewall and lift 'n twist the front towards the TB as with the passenger side.

I got a set of fel-pro gaskets and did NOT use sealant. Be warned: If you have the 4-bolt variety with the bolts on the edges, you'll need a bolt that's 1/4" longer than stock. Bring an old one with and pick up 8.

 

Thanks Guys.

I got the passanger side of with a lot of work ! Concerned about putting it back in after I paint it >..

(HELP)The Drivers side is still a pain.. I have attached some pics. The fire wall side is hitting some electrical parts, So it wont budge at all this way. This makes me think it has to go towards the a.c / alt. As some one else mentioned.

It just seems like a lot to take apart ??

Well what torqe ?

I guess I have to get longer screws.


On another note the side that I got off you can see arows going to what seems to be drain holes. It looks as though all the holes are different sizes, as if the have been chizeled ? Did yours look like this.

Thanks Dan

 

Thanks Guys.

I got the passanger side of with a lot of work ! Concerned about putting it back in after I paint it >..

(HELP)The Drivers side is still a pain.. I have attached some pics. The fire wall side is hitting some electrical parts, So it wont budge at all this way. This makes me think it has to go towards the a.c / alt. As some one else mentioned.

It just seems like a lot to take apart ??

Well what torqe ?

I guess I have to get longer screws.


On another note the side that I got off you can see arows going to what seems to be drain holes. It looks as though all the holes are different sizes, as if the have been chizeled ? Did yours look like this.

Thanks Dan

 

Ohh i forgot to mention all the oil on the bottom of the head that doesnt go any where .. Is that norm ? Now wonder why they all leak.

 

Dan,

The holes are OK. They look like mine. The pooled oil is OK too.

To remove the drivers side, I hack-sawed flush the lower bolt on the air pump. I suppose it could be backed out but that seemed less permanent. Is that what you're hitting on the front?

Steve

 

The holes you are looking at are perfectly normal.
Most of the drainback takes place at the TWO END holes at the outside edge of the heads.

Yep, all that oil that collects tends to make'em leak after awhile.
That's a typical thing with the GEN I small block Chevy's.

GM addressed this issue on the CENTER BOLT Valve Cover heads.
The outside edge is MUCH HIGHER to try and combat the typical valve cover leaks that have existed with this design since 1955.

The new design also eliminated the problem of someone really 'Snorking' down the valve cover bolts which results in the gasket getting the snot mashed out of it.
The new center bolt valve covers can't be tightened down enough to mash up the gaskets. The BOLTS can be over-tightened but it still won't damage the gasket.

______________________________________


Another 'NORMAL' leak point is the REAR MAIN SEAL.
Your engine uses a 'Two Piece' rear main seal and they ALL leak eventually.

This issue was addressed and resulted in the 'One Piece' rear main seal on the next model of the engine.

______________________________________


The last 'Normal Leak' point is at the front of the oil pan where the timing chain cover mates to the front lip of the oil pan.
It is 'NORMAL' for these engines to leak at that junction of the gaskets.
Your engine uses a 'Four Piece' oil pan gasket and they tend to leak at the front where they mate with the timing cover.
GM addressed this issue and the 'fix' was the 'One Piece' oil pan gasket.

______________________________________



One more area that typically gives a little trouble 'normally' is directly under the intake manifold at each end of the block. The ends are called the 'China Wall' by some people.
Cork or rubber gaskets were used on the older Gen I SBC and they had little 'tit's that held them in place..
They ALL had a tendency to leak oil.
The newer models use silicone to seal this area.

______________________________________

With those three areas 'fixed' on the Small Block Chevy oil leaks became rather unusual.

Anyway, thought you may enjoy a little 'history' of oil leaks on our famous Small Block Chevy engines.

BTW, you CAN 'sand blast' the valve covers. Actually, I hope you'll need access to a 'bead blaster' that uses glass beads or walnut shells, etc as the blast media. Sand causes silicosis of the lungs and I think it may have been banned for blasting purposes by the EPA for.

When you blast the covers you may find casting flaws that you may want to used body filler to fix before ytou paint the valve covers.

NOTE: You WILL HAVE TO PRIMER THE COVERS, PREFERABLY, WITh ZINC CHROMATE PRIMER before you spray the color on them. If you don't the paint may not last long before it starts to come off.
I know there will be folks that say they didn't do this......well they didn't do it 'right' if they didn't, end of testimony, case closed.

Use MASKING TAPE to cover your valve cover emblem to keep the blasting from doing it any harm.

Note...IMPORTANT: IMPORTANT: TAPE UP THE BREATHERS on your valve covers before you bead blast them.
If you DON'T..... those glass beads will get in there and eventually find their way into the crankcase of your engine. NOT a good place to have glass beads. Tapee them up REALLY WELL. You will have to clean them up some before the tape will stick. Make SURE the beads don't get into those breathers.

Good luck with your engine beautification project.

Email me if you run into anything you'd like more info on. I don't know much 'bout'em but I stayed at a Hoilday In Express last month.
I stay up late too, LOL.

 

on the alternator side (going from my beer soaked memory) this where you need to disconnect the brake booster line at the plenum and remove the cover of the wiper motor assembly (3 torx screws) that ought to give you enough room to carefully get the sob off without disturbing anything on the front of the engine. you also get to wrestle with the injector harness.

I used the fel pro permaseal gaskets without the rtv.... it was a really pain to get the cover back on so pay carefull attention to how you take it out - for me, any rtv just smeared all over the place and I never had a good seal. the dry permaseals are still holding up after a few years. why cant I open the pictures?... must be the wonders of vista.

 

Oh, I just thought about ONE more thing........


Use silicone rubber (or your favorite gluey snot) to glue the gaskets to the valve covers.
Don't glue the gaskets to the head side.

Reason why?
When you pull them next time you won't have to be leaning over the front tires cleaning off the gasket material and silicone rubber from the heads.

Put a little OIL on the around the perimiter of the head where the gaskets go.
That way, they'll come off easily next time.

You can use the silicone to just lightly glue the gasket to the valve cover. Put the valve cover bolts thru the holes to hold them in place while the silicone hardens up.
They won't fall out of place while you jockey them back on if you do this.
I use the Red kind on mine just to hold'em in place until I get'em back on.
I find this results in less practice of my 'Sailor Language' during valve cover installation.

The SILICONE VALVE COVER GASKETS are the best ones.
Cork gaskets are NOT the preferable ones but you CAN use them long as you don't mind changing them about every year or so.

 

one more thing, I've got to raise a cold one to the people (like in this thread) who contribute their valued advice , really good stuff on this forum. Without the help of all of these knowledgeable people, I probably would have given up on the ol 85 many years ago.

 

On the driver's side.... Remove the TOP bolt from the alternator bracket.
Loosen the alternator 'thru bolt' and the bracket bolt on the rear of the alternator.
Rotate the alternator out just a little and the valve cover will clear.
It WILL clear the air pump bracket.
Lift it up from the rear and work it out. It'll come out handily.

Note... all that's from vauge memory.... and on the last cold boot there were LOTS of memory errors coming up thru HAL.

Removing the windshield motor will give you more clearance BUT ....
IT"S A RPITA so, I DON"T reccomend it. As they say... I've got the T-Shirt for THAT and I'd like to give back that shirt.

 

it's usually a good idea to adhere the gasket to the cover with silicone.
a work of caution,
do not use any silicone that smells like strong ammonia. It will corrode aluminum and attacks the magnesium that the valove covers are made of.
1.There is a product called "the right stuff" and it's the formula that GM uses to make the front and back manifold seal out of. It will not corrode, turn mushy, and it sticks like a banshee when it's cured, and skims in about a half hour.
It;s really good sealant, and lasts a lifetime unless you scrape it off.
2.If you glue the gaskets to the covers, just remember that they may come lose at any time while you are jockeying the covers back on. When that happens, you need to either start over, or get a little dentist type mirror, and slide it along the edge to insure the gasket did not move. otherwise the mess that it causes from a slipped gasket will try your patience in that cramped engine installation, and mess up your intake.

 

Jim Thank you for that extensive explanation.

Every one else thank you as well! !!

I am going to see what I can DO !!!

THANKS AGAIN

DAN