How do you make it rain in California?... buy a speedster.

Ahh! Good idea!

Love that white one!

Hey Ted, I was at Mike Lempert's today and saw your wheel spoke metal.  He's got no excuses now.

Damn! How can I like this post more than once!?!

 

Thanks for the update, Lane!

Ted

Don't get too eager as there are still other is the queue ahead of you, but the work has now started.

Heh. I'm not too eager. The original deadline he gave me has already come and gone.  He told me 6 weeks ago that I had a few in front of me and that it would be a bit. I was hoping it would have been ready for the end of the year. I'm guessing more like end of January. 

 

Patience young grasshopper. Patience. 

 

Ted

The wait is worth while.  Mike sent me my wheel over Christmas... What a beautiful piece of art. 

Just read this entire thread. Awesome job you've done on your Speedster, Ted! Gives me some inspiration to do some more things to my new to me widebody.

Thanks, Gary

Ted:  Waiting is hard.

 

I started building my car when my kids were in Jr. High and my son was hoping I would get it done and would let him take it to his Junior prom.  It wasn't done.

 

Then he hoped for his Senior prom.  It wasn't done then, either, nor was it done for his High School or college Graduations.

 

It finally got on the road, a few years pass and he finally got to use it for his wedding get-away car....

 

This thing sucks... Literally.

Second time this has happened. The new 1915 motor keeps sucking the valve cover gaskets off the valve covers. The first time I attributed it to the scrappy aftermarket chrome bales. I ditched those and put some stock ones on the heads. Those worked well for a bit, but just the other day I sucked another gasket. I'm currently running chrome Mofoco vented valve covers. I'm thinking of ditching those in place of some vented stock Gene Berg units, or actually installing the Porsche 4 cam look alike units I purchased.

The motor is vented out each valve cover with 1/2" ID hose. The two vents meet at a T and are then routed back to a 912 style oil filler housing. The housing has two inlets. One receives the vent from the valve covers. The other simply vents to another 1/2" line which is routed down to a catch can, similar to the stock unit.


I have not vented anything back into the carbs. The only 'breather' I have is the 912 style one from CSP. What can I do to keep from sucking these valve cover gaskets? I guess the simple answer is to keep my foot out of the pedal.

Thanks,
Ted

hmmmmmmmm............Since the crankcase and valve covers are all at a positive atmosphere, you would expect, if anything, the pressure would push the gasket out past the lip of the valve cover.  Is THAT what's happening, or are the gaskets finding their way into the rocker gallery??

 

If they are going into the gallery, I would suspect the flatness of the aftermarket valve covers where they mate to the head.  If there is a slight angle to the mating lip, especially closer at the outside of the lip than at the inside, they'll pop the gaskets into the rocker gallery in short order.

 

The fix? Try the fake 4-cam covers you have and see if that cures it.  If not, I might try the Berg stock, vented covers.  If THAT doesn't work, I would glue the suckers in with Permatex blue gasket goop.

 

gn

my solution is,  using only the original cover oft the VW Beetle, that have always been perfekt

I'm very late to the party here -- and it is quite a party. TRP (Ted) you have got the madness big-time.  I am so happy for you!!!  There would be a lot to comment on here, and maybe in due time.  But to jump to the end and the valve cover gaskets, you should, as has been mentioned, use original VW covers and bales.  really.  also, you could try my method for sealing, which I developed and used since the '60s.  Are you using cork?  As they say in NJ: fuggedaboudit.  They make a fiber-flex (?) neoprene sort-of gasket (my local auto parts shop, NAPA has these).  Clean the crap out of the cover, and do what you can to make sure it is as flat and true as possible.  Apply some red RTV gasket maker to the cover, and place the gasket onto this.  Set it aside for a night or day to set up.  When you apply the valve cover and gasket ass'y to the engine, make sure that the head surface is clean.  I apply a bit of silicone grease to the rubber gasket that is in contact w/ the head.  Put it up there and pull the bale over.  give the VC a little tap-tap from one side and then the other to be sure it is seated well.  This should do it.  Also, this application works for many many miles.  You can take the Vc off and replace it many times.  After a while it may harden up abit w/ the engine temp, etc., and will have to be replaced.  Cleaning off the old RTV may take a bit of work, but not too bad.  My two old 356s and the newer Speedster have all had it done this way, and it works.  And I agree w/ Gordon that the engine is not "sucking" in your gaskets. they are just not securely set, and if cork, they compress and harden, and get lose and fall down.

 

Let me know how this goes.

And when you go to NAPA for those valve cover gaskets, pick up an aerosol can of Permatex RTV dissolver so when you want to get everything removed from the valve cover it'll be a much easier job.

 

I have used both the cork-style gaskets and the composite ones (usually black, but I've seen green ones, too) over the years with bolt-on valve covers (the worst, I know, but what'cha-gonna-do when you're a cheapskate?) and have about the same luck with either.  I will lean toward the cork ones if I have them, but usually just grab whatever is in the gasket bin.  Usually I'll buy a 10-pack of VC gaskets at VW show flea markets whenever I'm running low, but NAPA is handy, too.

 

Like Kelly, I just use  a liberal film of automotive grease on the gasket.  Makes getting the cover off later much easier.  If you feel they're gonna distort and leak, Permatex them to the cover.  But I would suspect the flatness of your current cover mating surface.

 

I remember running out of VC gaskets at an autocross once, so we just ran a BIG bead of Permatex around the valve cover.  It sealed perfectly and lasted way past the end of the season, but I almost had to use Dynamite to get the damn valve cover off.

Gordon posted "But I would suspect the flatness of your current cover mating surface."

 

This I can totally agree with. I've had aftermarket chrome and cast aluminum valve covers on V-8's not seal well, allowing oil seepage or outright leaks and the most likely cause has been the the valve covers have been slightly warped and not sitting true to the mating surface. This has been more prevalent with Chrome steel covers in my experience, though I have had a pair of aluminum that were really tweaked.  Also if using a chromed valve cover it often helps to gently sand off the chrome plating on the mating surface, for some reason when plated the uniformity of the plating is not uniform on the mating surface, and doing the same to an aluminum cover has proven to be beneficial as often the casting on the mating surface is not all that smooth . 

As for valve cover gaskets the best I've used is SCE hi-temp silicone/cork laminated steel reinforced, nominally thicker than OEM they tend to not creep or move and seal very well and are reusable...expensive at around $35+ each but well worth it, not sure if SCE makes them for VW's though.

The Fel-pro 'Fel-prene' hi-temp reinforced gaskets are another good choice, again not sure if they are made for VW's...Retail is about $30 each, expensive but again worth it and they sealed a slightly warped chrome plated Moroso valve cover on my '33 Vicky's 350sbc after trying several other gaskets that eventually began leaking...never had an oil seepage or leak after installing them.

I think I solved the valve cover gasket issue this weekend.  I tried the FelPro gaskets and they leaked. This time it was the other side. I *almost* drilled a hole in the 4 cam replica covers but decided to just jump to inevitable.  I tapped and vented some original stock valve covers. took about 20 minutes to clean 'em up and get the vents installed. I installed them with some standard cork gaskets. No issues as of yet.

 

While running down the valve cover issues I found that the oil pump may be seeping somewhere. Boo. I bet it's the silly 'ribbed' aluminum cover that's on there. It's a good melling pump, can I use the original oil pump face plate? Or are there better options? I also found a weeping stud in the sump. I kind of knew the hole was dodgy. It appears to be stripped. I need to replace a stud with a 'step stud' in the sump. I picked up the stud this weekend.  Maybe I'll jump in head long and fix all these issues while I'm installing the cooler / bypass valve.

 

I'm just not a fan of working with oil lines. They tend to be prone to leaks and major messes.

 

Ted

But look on the bright side - If you have an oil leak, the area around it will probably never rust.

 

Good news on the valve covers, too!

http://www.geneberg.com/cat.php?cPath=5_126_2741

HEY!!!  If Terry Nuckels tells you to buy Gene Burg Products   YOU DAMN WELL BETTER!!  

 

Myself  Im picking up a dozen GB 244w's     

 

Thanks Terry     Remind me in June to show you where I installed my GB 244w's 

 

Tebs!!