Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Aluminum Covers

I have an Offenhauser aluminum valve cover and a pair of Stovebolt finned aluminum side covers on my 292 and am having trouble getting them to seal up. I have cork gaskets on there now that I applied with a light coat of silicone to hold them to the covers. What gaskets and or sealers are you guys using to seal these motors up? Want to take the piece of cardboard out from under the truck every night

try the rubber coated gaskets made by felpro. i used two to clear head studs with valve cover and it does not leak. you may have to order them. tom

GM

i've found a 'new to me' gasket sealer called hylomar. you can get it tubes, or aerosol. my 181 mercruiser engine seemed to leak around the valve and side-covers, no matter what i did.

i bought new cork/neoprene gaskest from napa, then put a light coat of hylomar (following instructions) on both sides of the gaskets. knock on wood, i've been leak-free for many miles, now.

That Hylomar is great stuff!
Gas ,oil, does not do anything to it.
It stays soft.It can be messy though.

Hylomar has been around for a long time. I believe the original formula was developed by a British company to cure sealing problems with the
Allison V-1710 aircraft engine during WWII.
Dennis and Hank are right about it being great stuff.

Gordy

Any idea what places handle the Hylomar sealer? Might be even harder to find up here in Canada...

Haven't bought any in a while but Permatex Hylomar was available in NAPA stores and probably
many other automotive chains.

Gordy

Yep Napa sells it. It comes with a brush attached under the cap. Threre is also a sealer that comes in a small brown bottle with a Indian head on the label that looks like the same stuff. It's ugly but it don't leak!

I do not like the Indian brown stuff.
It gets hard.
Hard to clean up.
But It does seal ok.
Hylomar is blue, & the indian stuff is brown smells like tar.

Now, are you guys using this Hylomar with the aluminum or steel covers? The Indian brown stuff sounds a lot like the "gasket sealer" that GM used to sell in a can with a brush. I have a couple of cans of that and it works real good with the steel covers but doesn't seem to adhere as well to the cast aluminum covers........

It works w/aluminum or steel.
I used it a lot when I raced my GP bike that runs on two storke fuel, (oil & gas).
I tworks great, does not tear gaskets, you can take apart parts numerous times w/out tearing gaskets.

If you do decide to try silicone again,try very lightly coating both sides of the cork and the covers then let it hang out for a day before applying a bead to the covers.I swear by the ford grey permatex, when that stuff cures you can just about run with out the bolts.

Personally, I do not know of a silicone/rtv based sealer that does not degrade as oil gets to it.
Two cents

Isn't it something that we have to use gasket sealer to seal gaskets when gaskets are actually supposed to be the sealer!

Oh, I'm sorry - for minute there I was thinking irrationally!

The stuff that has been mentioned that General Motors sells is about the best stuff I have found. Every leak that I have ever had a problem with, I have been able to stop with the General Motors product. It is available at most General Motors dealer's parts counters.

Ask for: Part Number 1#1050026, Group Number 8.800, Gasket Sealer. Works from -50 degrees to 400 degrees.

Joe

Gentlemen;

All gaskets leak/seep a little due to vibration and tempature changes on cast iron engines. It's just the 'nature of the best'.

When aluminum engines were introduced they had precision surfaces and the heat/cold was 'even' throughout the engine in comparsion.

Over the years most mechanics have used sealers sparingly in case the engine had to be worked on later.

A few years back, I needed to use 3 different ones/types to change heads on a Ford V-8, as each had a different (specific) application.

I'm not familar with the brands mentioned, but BE SURE your using the proper one for the right application, as they can cause more harm than good.

Chevy six sideplates have always leaked a little.

Good luck to all.

PS: In this case; use the sealer to seal the rubber gasket to the block & brake grease (hi temp) on the side plates. This will allow them (aluminum) to move alone W/O tearing the gasket loose. There are two different materials here.

If you have to remove the plates for inspection later the gasket will stay in place & not need replacement.