Valve cover gaskets

[Joes4x4Ranger]

I'm doing valve cover gaskets on my friends 91 OHV. Are the Fel-Pro Perma Dri gaskets as good as the factory gaskets?? I've heard a few times this motor hates the aftermarket valve cover gasket's and will leak in short order.

 

[shaggymane]

when i got my 91 it had 155K on it. Motor was dry. Last year at 164K V cover gaskets started leaking. I bought the 30$ set because i wanted a dry motor and it seemed on less step during relapcement.
After I had one side on I got to thinking I have no idea what shape the lower intake gaskets are in, whether they've been replaced or not. If they were to go soon after doing the valve covers - wasted $30.
Something to consider.

If I had to do it again I'd use cork and Orange RTV. They'll seal. That's what we do on them old FE's and they onlyhave like 5 screws holding them on.

 

[1992 Eddie Bauer]

when i got my 91 it had 155K on it. Motor was dry. Last year at 164K V cover gaskets started leaking. I bought the 30$ set because i wanted a dry motor and it seemed on less step during relapcement.
After I had one side on I got to thinking I have no idea what shape the lower intake gaskets are in, whether they've been replaced or not. If they were to go soon after doing the valve covers - wasted $30.
Something to consider.

If I had to do it again I'd use cork and Orange RTV. They'll seal. That's what we do on them old FE's and they onlyhave like 5 screws holding them on.

Rubber gaskets SUCK!!!! I've never in my life been able to get rubber gaskets to seal. I've always used cork and RTV sealant and have never had a problem. I've even had to make my own cork gaskets in the past because I couldn't get cork for the vehicle I was working on (not the explorer, but another vehicle). If you can't get cork gaskets, buy a roll of cork and trace your valve cover on the cork and cut it out. Simple to do.....

 

[Maniak]

I'm Have had the exact opposite issue. I could never get the cork ones to seal on the X. I picked up a set of rubber ones form ford (fastpartsnetwork.com) and its been dry ever since.

I also had problem getting cork ones to seal on our 460, but I have since noticed that the bottom of the valve cover isn't exactly flat. There the bolts go are pushed in some, so they get tight, but the rest of the gasket isn't.

~Mark

 

[catdaddy]

When using cork, do you rtv the whole gasket, top & bottom?

 

[Anime]

I've picked up a set of the Fel-Pro perma-dry plus valve cover gaskets, they seem like the best option, since you just throw them on, and NO additional sealer is used. If you silicone these, or use something else on the surface thinking it will help, it will actually cause the built-in sealant/adhesive on the gasket to fail.

The cork gaskets are notorious for leaking, and I sure wouldn't want to mess with silicone all over the front and back of the gasket.

If the Fel-Pro's fail me, I'll look into ones from Ford, but my guess is the Ford ones are made by Fel-Pro.