Valve Cover Gasket Issues

[dbeardslee]

I got a '79 XS several months ago in non-running condition. After MANY hours, and MANY trips to this forum I finally have it in good running condition. I had some oil leaking from the valve cover gasket, but didn't want to mess with it until I new it would run right.

The old gasket was really stuck in several places - on the engine side (of course), but following the forum advice I used gasket remover, a scraper, sandpaper and elbow grease I managed to get the surface ready. While I did my best to keep the gasket pieces out of the machinery, several small pieces (maybe 1" long) fell into the slot below the timing chain.

I'm kind of concerned that these small pieces could plug a journal, or wreak some other kind of havoc, so I'm left with the dilema of how to get them out. I was planning to replace the pan gasket anyway. If I drop the pan, will that give me access to the area under the timing chain? Anyone had similar issues? Will it cause problems? Any ideas on how to get those little pieces out?

[Ken Talbot]

Dropping the pan should work. Other folks have dropped the occasional nut down there while working on the cams, and the nut usually lands just inside the opening, within finger reach.

[trbig]

Any oil getting to any of your journals has to go through the oil pump which has a fine mesh screen on the intake of it. No, it's not designed to have that stuff in there and I guess you could get enough of it to get sucked up to the screen and stopping it up, but a few small pieces shouldn't hurt anything. They will sink to the bottom of the pan. Just get them out when you replace that pan gasket, and you're likely to see a bunch of other stuff that looks like kitty litter in there from your clutch plates.


Tod

P.S. Ken types faster.. lol. If you drop the pan before running it and lay on your back, you can reach your fingers up into the bottom front side of the motor where you'll find a small "Shelf" that does tend to grab things that fall down from the top.

[dbeardslee]

Thanks for the fast reply, Ken. My piece of mind index went way up

On a related issue, I noticed when I used Permatex Gasket Remover I put tin foil over the cams, header pipes, and frame, but I couldn't help but get a little on the fins and surrounding metal surfaces. It kind of bubbled-up, and when I wiped it off GAWD! were those surfaces clean! It appears to be a chemical stripper similar to what you use to remove paint. My valve cover has heavy oxidation on the outside, and I was thinking of using the gasket remover to clean it as well. Any thoughts?

[prometheus578]

That gasket remover spray removed the old, yellowed clearcoat that was sprayed on the aluminum engine surfaces.
I don't think it would work too well on oxidation, though.
Try fine sand paper, #0000 grit steel wool or a buffing wheel set up.
Yeah, I know, some people don't like steel wool, say it leaves little bits o' steel that rust later, but I've never encountered this problem