So now I have the valve covers off and I’ve scraped the old permatex off the covers and the engine.
As you might expect the covers are a mess.
A mess
The other is no cleaner.
I used brake cleaner to get them clean..well at least cut the grease and grime..and a paint prep to get the ready for painting.
I had purchased paint from the corvette parts supplier, specifically for valve covers. As I state previously it gets pretty hot under there.
That took a good portion of the day. And here is the out come. errrrkkkk….don’t worry the when you see the paint grommets, I cleaned them up nicely.
Right side
and
Right side
So that was a pretty quick bit of work. While these were drying I cleaned up the engine a bit and remove any debris that was got in the valve area.
Tomorrow we’ll discuss just why I learned they used permatex at the factory and tell you why I didn’t. Sigh..and I’ll tell you about what that decision cost me!!!
And it continues. My better half is wanting the garage back for her car so I’m spending a little more time on it in the evenings…ok…it’s 4/6/10 finished it tonight..but I have to post in sequence soooooo keep reading.
So I have them off. The worse part is the lack of room and I’m pretty sure that’s going to haunt me when I go to put them back on.
This video shows the left side and gives a perfect example of the lack of room for maneuvering.
Hey..ya know..it’s tough, talking, pointing, thinking and recording..I don’t see a TV show in my future!!!!
This next vid is where, mistakenly thinking that cork was originally used. Cork was not used at the factory so this was in fact the original seal.
This next video is the right side after removal. There is no room!!!!
Ok the are both off and I’ll post up tomorrow I couple of things I learned.
Thanks for reading. (Auto Factoids tomorrow too!!!)
Here the next installment of the removal of the valve cover. There is very little room in this engine compartment, as compared to my 70 Mustang, and I had to remove a few things to just get the covers out.
But first a couple of mistaken assumptions I need to clear up. GM did not use cork from in the factory for the 84 vettes. They used Permatex sealer gasket maker. I got that wrong. Carrying on with that assumption as I viewed the old material in one of the videos, I suggested that the gasket had been replaced once before. That was based on the previous assumption that the factory used cork..in fact, what you will see in the video (post that one tomorrow) is the original factory seal. With 64k original mile, I’m guessing that is correct. (Learning is good…oh and don’t worry..I have one more lesson to share…..sigh)
These next photo shows how tight it is on the right side of the engine.
The black outline shows the span of the valve cover. The white shows the pieces that have to be removed.
There are a couple videos coming up andlet me tell you that aren’t great… its tough to record with one hand and work with the other…oh…well…you’ll see.
This next video shows the air cleaner coming off and a vacuum hose.
This next video is more of the same.
errrk.. I’ve learned that this blog take a while for video to process so I’ll have more video loaded tomorrow….errrk.
Of all the parts I had to remove on the right side the worse (meaning it’ll cost me later) was the A/C electrical sensor. You can see that in the picture above circled in white. Yeah….I know why the garage wanted $700.00 to replace these…..
When I advertised this project I blogged that I didn’t understand why GM, given how hot the 1984 C4 ran, would use cork as the material for the valve cover gasket and how I wouldn’t replace them with cork. So I called a popular Vette parts supply house and ordered Ultra-Seal. I did check locally. ok fine, I checked one place, the Checker Auto down the street, where, through some extremely ineffective communication (the guy didn’t know what he was talking about or what they had in stock), the employee said, “All we have is cork.”; to which I said, “No, thanks.”; to which he said, “I can order something else.” to which I said, “So can I.” (There… that bit of typing is for you grammar-sensitive types.)
I also tossed a query on the forum for the Vette group I belong to, and a couple said they do still use cork, and a couple highly suggested Fel-Pro. Funny, they said they got them from Checkers.
Yesterday, I received the Ultra-seal (made by Mr. Gasket) I ordered from the Vette parts place. The Ultra-seal…was cork!!!!!! So much for the description on the web. So I got on the phone to the Checkers down the street and I got an employee that actually knew what they had in stock. They had every type: rubber, rubber with metal, liquid, metal, and cork.
So when I got there, I picked up the set of the Fel-Pro and Mr. Gasket’s rubber gaskets. I hear my inner critic say “Hey, average car guy!!! Yeah…I’m talkin to you, Mr. Average budget!!! What do ya think ya doin’?!!”
Here’s the deal. I’ve never taken the valve covers off the Vette before, I’m not sure about the clearance, or the angle of the plane the valve cover sit..yadda..yadda. Plus, I kept the receipt so I can return them…and I will!!!! Promise!!!
So the Ultra-Seal looks like this:
CORK…BAD!!!!
Sorry about the pic ..didn’t open them because they have to go back.
The Mr. Gasket I purchased from Checkers was metal covered with thick rubber:
Mr.Gasket Rubber and Thick Metal
They are very similar in thickness and shape as the Ultra Seal.
The Fel-Pro are the ones I’m going to put on the car. They are metal covered with thin rubber and the holes are re-enforced with metal washers and are grooved.
Fel_Pro grooved and will hold better during installation.
I love this. Every now and then one of the readers of my blog will send a picture of their pride and joy.
Jeff Applegate is co-worker and he is the owner of this beautiful 55 Chevy 3100 pick-up. This is a super looking truck. It was converted from a 6 cylinder and now sports a 350 with dual exhaust. The interior is mostly stock as it came from the factory.
What you can’t see in this photo is the beautiful wooden bed that this truck has. It’s a sight to be hold.
I’ve ridden in this one and it can haul butt!
This truck started out as a work truck for the University of Arizona, before Jeff and his brother got a hold of it. What is extra cool is that Jeff also graduated from the U of A as well. (A whole better than a year book and letter-man sweater!!!) As Jeff described it “It was trashed”. The truck had been used for exactly what is was purchased for “work”. Jeff notes that the wooden bed was rotted out due to the harsh weather here in Southern AZ, the body was beat up pretty good and the straight 6 was plumb worn out.
I’ve asked Jeff (a bunch of times) to sell it to me…and …well….let’s just say his response, once cleaned up for family viewing was “No”.
Thanks for sharing the picture Jeff…Is No your final answer? Yeah that’s what I figure!!!!
Often if you get the right size radiator or heater hose it will be a tight fit(eerrrkkk….don’t tighten the clamp first!!!!….just kidding…eeerrrkk) getting it over metal fittings. You can buy them bigger but you are asking for leaks!!!! Here are a couple of tips. One I’ve used and the other I haven’t tried yet.
1. I live in Arizona, and it’s hot here and normally if you are going to have problems it will be from over heating in the summer time. I’ll take the hose and leave it on the concrete driveway for a while in the hot sun. That often softens it up enough to slip on.
2. This one I have not tried. If you have clear wire-pulling compound, you can rub a light amount around the inside of the hoses and it will slide right on. Here is a link where you can find some. http://www.twacomm.com/catalog/dept_id_608.htm
Thanks for reading.
Don’t forget our project car contest. $100.00 online shopping gift card to your favorite auto parts web site.
So if UPS has its act together I should be getting a set of valve cover gasket and engine paint to repaint the Valve covers and installing them all on Saturday and part of Sunday if necessary.
I could have got the gaskets locally, but only in cork. What I’ll never understand is the thought behind using cork in cars where the average engine coolant temperature is over 200 degrees. Yeah..really.
The spec book on the 1984 C4 Crossfire engine has the thermostat requirement at 195 (degrees). That means the engine has to reach nearly 200 degrees before the thermostat opens and allows the coolant to flow. What more the Crossfire engine is came equiped with an electronic fan for the radiator and the is factory set to come on when the temp reaches 223 degrees.
Now that’s pretty hot for an engine. Rarely does my corvette digital temp gage find it’s self under 200 degree during while operating, it normally round 210.
So knowing that, Chevy still put cork valve cover gaskets on the car. If you’ve ever worked with those, you know that if the engine runs hot, they will eventually “cook” on and dry out and leak. So I went with…. errrkk…. cut/paste “Ultra-Seal material provides a positive seal through controlled swelling of the gasket once exposed to hot engine oil. The polymers used in Ultra-20 also ensure gaskets will not harden and fall apart like others can. Gaskets are coated with an easy release material which helps prevent tearing when the valve covers are removed.”…end errrk and cut/paste.
The painting shouldn’t be a problem, it’s just to spruce them, but I’ll need to prepare them. They are textured magnesium and can take a lot of heat but they do stain easily. I’ll show close-ups of the before and after.
Actually you can see some of it here.
errrkkk….Normally my engine isn’t this awful looking. But it’s been a wetter than normal winter and I haven’t kept up with it like I should. Plus I haven’t been too worried about, know that I had to do these gaskets and hopefully, soon, I’ll be putting on the newly designed Crossfire intake.
Hey..don’t forget the Project Car Contest $100 online gift car to an auto parts house.
I’ve been think about doing this but the rules seem a bit tough to come up with. But I’ll give this a try.
I’m looking for some project car posts from the readers. Your projects. Anything from a huge wreck of car project to something smaller (bigger then an oil change). It has to be your car and you are doing “some” of the work on it. That the only hard and fast rule.
I’ll need a couple photos and some brief details. You can post them up here or find me on Facebook and post them there or email them to me (timsweet@cox.net). I’ll post them here and then on my website (www.tucsoncarevents.com) for everyone to look at.
If I get enough entries I’m pick a car of the week and then out of the we’ll vote on the car of the month (if I don’t get votes posted up I’ll have one of my regular readers pick it. The winner the car of the month gets a $100.00 online gift card to an auto parts dealer (Summit Racing or even tailored to your car). Simple as that.
So let’s get started. Remember anything from a total wreck to just a transmission swap, body work, paint, interior upgrade, hood swap. That all works. It doesn’t have to be done and I don’t need a before and after, just what you are working on.
I’ll run this until I get at least four to choose from, then we’ll vote.
Note: If you noticed my site is not commercial, there are no ads, no click through links, no pop ups. It’s just me type to hear myself type and a few of you reading it. I like it that way.
