CB Perf. valve covers and gaskets

Instead of using the Nyloc nuts why not try a two nut system if the bolts are long enough?  Tighten the first nut and then put a second nut on and back the first one up ever so slightly to lock it in place. I agree Nylocs can be a little tough to discern when they are on tight enough.

Usually less than 12 foot pounds, but I'll drop by tomorrow and we'll work it out.  

Honestly, I always install mine by feel..........I make up my own cover bolt, o-rings out of rubber fuel hose, too.

I went a local o ring supplier, they had both the large o ring that went around the valve cover perimeter and the small ones that seal the studs. I got two comple sets for $4! A light smear of silicone around the stud seals and no leaks at all. I think you can't tighten them down too far as the rocker stud nuts bottom inside the valve covers. At least mine did.

Al,

Listen to me very carefully, and pay attention.  Bring the current valve covers to Carlisle and put them in the raffle, as some guy who should know better but doesn't will take them.  Do this after you have procured two old-style VW valve covers w/ bales.  Install these w/ neoprene-fiber gaskets, held w/ red (HT)  silicone, and never worry about oil leaks again.  Trust me on this one.

I agree with Frazoo.  Over the years I've tried a couple of aftermarket valve covers and always went back to stock, even though I had to do some fabricating on the stock units for them to clear my Pauter rockers.

You can't over tighten a bale clip.

I'm unsure why you all have so many issues, but bolt-on AL covers don't need to leak. Mine don't.

Stock valve-covers aren't generally big enough for beefy rocker assy's with a big cam.

Stan,  You are right about hot rods w/ special stuff tucked in under he covers.  One would need to understand about all of that.  And the deal w/ the cool looking Al covers is thatthey are attached with shoulder bolts, so the dimensions need to be held just right so that the nuts bottom out with the right pressure on the gaskets, ans everything is properly true and flat.  I'm gonna say that your set up is done right, either by luck or design, and you got it right.  Many (most) are not set up right, and so they leak.  the ones I had were awful.  No tinkering would satisfy.  The bolts were just not right, or the covers were bent a little or -- I dunno. OEM VWsteel covers held w/ the spring bales work great.  Simplicity itself, which is what VW was all about, once upon a time.

Like Stan, I have a pair of CB finned aluminum covers.  When I first started using them, they leaked just a little from either the bolts or the perimeter gaskets or both.  Over the years, I've found simple ways to make them work;

I used to use only cork gaskets but would run a 1/8" bead of automotive grease around both sides of the gasket just before installing them.  That would flow when the engine heated up and moisten the cork, making it swell and seal up.  They were also easy to remove, later.  No RTV is ever used.  Clean up with a shop rag.

Lately, I've run out of my stash of cork gaskets and have gone to my secondary stash of composite gaskets.  They don't take as well to the grease trick, so I just heat them up just a bit with a heat gun before I assemble everything and they seem to seal just fine.  They are harder to remove later on and the mating surfaces require scraping with a razor blade to clean them.

My covers have a conical depression where the bolt goes through and those leaked a bit after the original (POS) o-rings wore out so I now just cut a 1/4" thick o-ring from a piece of 5/16" rubber fuel hose and use the bolt/washer to squash the o-ring.   Doing so makes it seal both against the cover and inwardly against the bolt threads and stopped that leak.

I may get a very slight weep along one or the other valve cover from time to time, never consistent as to side, and I usually ignore it.

I do not use a torque wrench to tighten the cover bolts.  However, I always check the tightness of the boss nut under the cover (which holds the rocker shaft and cover on) with a torque wrench to whatever the spec is for that.  When I last had the rockers off, I locktited those nuts (medium blue) and they've been fine since.  When I assemble the covers, I get them finger tight, then go a couple of turns to squash the rubber o-rings, then go another 1/4-1/2 turn to tighten them so they feel mushy-tight, not really tight, and that's enough.

Presto!  No leaks.

Thanks all. I used a dab of hi temp silicone on the nuts and a very light smear of the same stuff on the gasket. 40 inch pounds seemed to tighten the cover evenly and I don't plan on removing them for 3,000 miles when I check the valves again.

Fired it up with the new carbs, got them synced and went for a ride to try out the new brakes.  Everything worked great! No fuel leaks, no brake leaks and no oil leaks. I'm a happy guy and Spring is officially here as far as I'm concerned.

Gordon, thanks for the hand bleeding the brakes, or should I say foot? Lunch was fun with our sweet young brides.  We'll do that again soon , I hope.

Now, Al , you need to put some miles on that new beastie. I want to see it this year, OFF CAPE!

Valve covers, I have the aftermarket Porsche logo fake 4-cam lookalikes. The CB Performance cork/neoprene ones are good. I'll be using the last two I have when I put my covers back on. Contact adhesive on one side of the gasket and the cover, wait ten minutes and carefully stick them on. Works great, along with a shmeer of grease on the head side before installation.

I drilled the bolt heads for a safety wire between the two bolts, as I have lost a bolt driving down the road before!

Just to clarify, my valve-covers are not CB, but they are cast aluminum. I'm running CSPs on both engines.

Huge waste of money, IMHO, but they work great and have plenty of room for everything, so there's that.