Valve cover gasket

[KA1J]

I removed the valve cover last night to see what the valve shims are up to and want to repaint the cover. The cover came off easily with a very light tap and 6-7" of the gasket was loose from the cover but there was no gasket or adhesive residue of any kind left on the head when it came off.

The gasket material on the this valve cover is .050 inches / 1.25mm thick. Tapping the gasket with a screwdriver the gasket sounds like it's metal but I just checked with a magnet & if it's metal it's not ferrous. Perhaps it's just a tightly compressed fiber of some kind. Whatever it's made of, there were no leaks from the valve cover before disassembly.

Since I'm stripping the paint off the cover (It was sprayed by the PO with non heat resistant paint & is now bubbling off, I'm wondering how to best approach dealing with this gasket: If I try removing the majority part that is quite tightly affixed to the cover, I may snap it off. I could play it safe and apply an adhesive to the loose section, leave the rest alone and then the whole gasket would be firmly sealed to the cover.

I don't know if the paint stripping material will affect the gasket.

Once I am finally ready to reinstall, which kind of sealant should I use for an interface between the cover gasket and the head? I've read RTV bit don't know which kind of RTV to select & I've read to use just a thin layer of oil. Should I remove the cam cover half gaskets? they were not leaking & seem firmly attached and in good shape.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

[ManagerMike]

Alot of folks use rtv, if you do I suggest ultra black. I prefer to use permatex anerobic sealant, it stays pliable until it is clamped in place then it sets up when deprived of oxygen, is oil and gas proof, releases and ceans up easier than rtv for when you need to open it up again. I use it in place of every gasket on the bike, except the cylinder head of course.
As far as re-using that old, hardened paper gasket, you'd be begging for a leak

[natemoen]

Alot of folks use rtv, if you do I suggest ultra black. I prefer to use permatex anerobic sealant, it stays pliable until it is clamped in place then it sets up when deprived of oxygen, is oil and gas proof, releases and ceans up easier than rtv for when you need to open it up again. I use it in place of every gasket on the bike, except the cylinder head of course.
As far as re-using that old, hardened paper gasket, you'd be begging for a leak

+1 on that one!

[KA1J]

+1 on that one!

Well rats, I wanted to put that back on ASAP. Guess it will be ASAP but the P will be longer...

I thought I'd read the gasket can be reused. I've been reading so much it's all jumbling right now...

Where can I find a good price on a gasket with realistic shipping charges?

Maybe I should try cutting one out of gasket material. Haven't done that in years, last one I did that with was cork. T'wasn't pretty but it worked.

[Sol]

Not to jack but I am at the same point.

Watching with interest. I'd give details but, this post is yours! You must have hit post right after me, I've got some questions on the valves going right behind you. It's kinda nice to know others are actively working on the same stuff! Have a good one!

[jetmechmarty]

Where can I find a good price on a gasket with realistic shipping charges?

I bought mine from Parts-N-More. IIRC, they are $11 and shipping is quick and reasonable.

[KA1J]

I bought mine from Parts-N-More. IIRC, they are $11 and shipping is quick and reasonable.

I just did that. Picked up a couple other things as well.

Thanks for the tip.

[b.walker5]

Guess I'm too late with this now, but next time you need a gasket get a tube of 3 Bond, or Yamabond (same stuff) instead. Most gaskets aren't needed at all (except head) and if you use the 3 bond properly you wont have leaks... or you can go to the UK site and print out templates from their gasket library and make your own.

http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum/in...p?topic=4997.0

[KA1J]

Guess I'm too late with this now, but next time you need a gasket get a tube of 3 Bond, or Yamabond (same stuff) instead. Most gaskets aren't needed at all (except head) and if you use the 3 bond properly you wont have leaks... or you can go to the UK site and print out templates from their gasket library and make your own.

http://www.benefiscal.co.uk/forum/in...p?topic=4997.0

Bwalker, most cool. Yes, I've already ordered the valve cover gasket but this is still a most useful website. Gasket paper... never heard of it. I do make my own Ham Radio cards out of 68 pound card stock, it's about as heavy as my printer takes. I wonder if that's the same kind of material?

Thanks for the suggestion!

[Jamie]

Yamabond works great, and seals and cleans up if ever have to remove and repair or replace parts.

[b.walker5]

Bwalker, most cool. Yes, I've already ordered the valve cover gasket but this is still a most useful website. Gasket paper... never heard of it. I do make my own Ham Radio cards out of 68 pound card stock, it's about as heavy as my printer takes. I wonder if that's the same kind of material?

Thanks for the suggestion!

Any auto parts store, Autozone etc, will have gasket paper. It's oil resistant and not the same as card stock, although I have used old record covers in the past. The trick with the templates is to print onto paper or light card and then trace onto the gasket paper. Bit of a dying art these days but when i grew up it was common and well learned.

[Shacknasty]

Would you guys recommend using Yamabond instead of a base gasket on a Honda 650 4 cylinder?

[b.walker5]

Absolutely.. but be aware that some engines (not sure about honda's) use o rings on the sleeves. No problems using 3 bond on them but make sure the o rings, if used, are in good nick.

Honda sells 3 Bond under their own name, Hondabond, just like Yamaha does with Yamabond.

[DGXSER]

I have cut my own gasket for the valve cover before. Here in Ohio anyway, I had very little choices in the material as it is a VERY large surface for one piece gasket. Meaning you need very Wide paper. It worked ok, but was a REAL PITA to cut. I have been using Black RTV ever since.

I do love that UK site gasket templates though. VERY handy.

As to reusing the gasket, I have reused them before if they come off intact. No leaks either. I will say your safer replacing it though.

[Shacknasty]

An old method of making paper gaskets is to lay the gasket material on the part and tap lightly around the perimeter and the bolt holes with a ball peen hammer. This has saved me a lot of $ on small gaskets over the years.

I've found that I can make re-useable paper gaskets suitable for non-critical areas. I put a very thin layer of a non-hardening RTV ( I use Permatex Hi-Temp orange because it stays nice and pliable) on both sides and let it air dry over night. I have used this method on rocker boxes, covers for clutches, primaries, kicker covers, etc.

Please be careful using gasket dressing in areas that have oil passages. I have seen, more than once, motors starved for oil because a chunk of RTV got squished out when tightening and blocked and oil return passage.