I have just purchased new cam cover gaskets for my '84, to fix oil leaking. Do I need to "glue" (gasket cement) the gaskets to the head/covers?

Submitted by md@ptcnh.net on Thu, 04/10/2003 - 10:04

It was a long and tedious job cleaning the mating surfaces, esp. on the head. Alum. being so soft, it's very difficult to scrape the surface clean w/o scratching/gouging. I think I did a pretty good job, but there are a few slight scratches. What about coating with a thin film of grease, similar to what is customarily done with oil filters?

Dennis Casey

Submitted by dougdwyer@eart… on Thu, 04/10/2003 - 09:40

If the mating surfaces are 100% clean and undamaged, you won't need any gasket cement, and that's the prefered method. You'll have to gently re-torque the covers every so often though.

I've seen many cases where the mating surfaces on the cam covers have been gouged by a prior mechanic, apparently due to being a bit too aggressive with the scraping and cleaning process....which probably was required becuase someone beore *him* used gasket cement ! If this is the case with yours, you may need gasket cement after all.....

Good luck
Doug Dwyer