getting p.o.ed

[papa scoops]

66 350 open letter valve cover gaskets. been thru sveral sets of gaskets, all fresh and new, fel rpo, napa, no cheap ones and none fit remotely close. best found were the black rubber thick ones and trimed off the tabs. these are the original covers, un warped, never a leakage or fit problem, lst ones been on since the 70's, factory new ford service replacements. what are you using? stock original motor. I am aware of the problems with old nos gaskets shrinking and warping. what was the original gasket like? material, tabs,etc.  thanks, phred

[Bob Gaines]

66 350 open letter valve cover gaskets. been thru sveral sets of gaskets, all fresh and new, fel rpo, napa, no cheap ones and none fit remotely close. best found were the black rubber thick ones and trimed off the tabs. these are the original covers, un warped, never a leakage or fit problem, lst ones been on since the 70's, factory new ford service replacements. what are you using? stock original motor. I am aware of the problems with old nos gaskets shrinking and warping. what was the original gasket like? material, tabs,etc.  thanks, phred

Original was cork . I have never had good luck with the rubber. For original look be sure to the ones with get the ones with tabs . Felpro and others. I has yet to be that much of a problem for me to keep track of mfg.I used last. I have yet to have a problem finding some at the local auto parts store.It may take a few different places.  I typically glue one side to the valve cover and do not use a sealer on the engine side . The tabs help keep the gasket indexed. You may have to persuade a particularly set with tape until it drys . Contact cement on valve cover side and then another thin coat on gasket side separately . Do not put together  at this time . Allow the glue to tack for 3 or 4 minutes before assembly. Most times this will assure a almost instant grip when applying gasket to valve cover   I will put a super thin coating of grease on the engine side valve cover rail to help with not sticking when taken off in the future. FYI use a rubber hammer to break the valve cover loose and not a pry bar /screw driver. You can knock the he!! out of them to break loose without damage.This allows them to be taken off in one piece and most times be able to reuse the gasket. All but two  tabs will typically line up with the notches on the valve cover. I have not been able to find any with all tabs needed so rather then go crazy you simply cut tabs off of a donor valve cover set and carefully glue in missing tab location for a factory look. If you don't care about originality disregard the part about the tabs. 

[6s1640]

Hi Phred,

I have found these covers are not perfectly flat.  You want to make sure the lower corner and lower edge are snugged up first to make sure there is a good sit.  Does that make sense?  Then tighten up the other bolts as described in post 3 below.

Best of luck

Cory

[NC TRACKRAT]

Bob's tips are on-target, especially about using a coat of wheel-bearing grease on the mating surfaces.  In addition to making the covers easier to remove, the grease acts as somewhat of a barrier against seeping. Usually, uneven and over-torqueing will cause leaks.  Start out by tightening in a criss-cross fashion, lightly at first and finishing up with an inch-pound torque wrench at 84 in.-lb. which is much more exact than a foot-pound wrench set at 7 ft.-lb.

[CharlesTurner]

The op asked about open letter covers, which don't have index notches or the grooved channel like later style.  They're a bit trickier to get the gasket lined up, but gluing and light grease still applies.

[silverton_ford]

I just installed some valve covers on my Mustang last night.  The key is patience.... 

I also used this Permatex High Tack Gasket sealant on the valve cover side only.  https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ptx-80062?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqNPyBRCjARIsAKA-WFxvh3xvGWIeXyyH6fyOKPVTCvxUvs7VTB0xaifXSYf-NeMgH3liRbIaAlcwEALw_wcB

It helps to get the gasket to stay in place, but it can be messy.  It creates almost like a cob web type string when you go back and forth to the bottle to fill up your brush.

[Bob Gaines]

The op asked about open letter covers, which don't have index notches or the grooved channel like later style.  They're a bit trickier to get the gasket lined up, but gluing and light grease still applies.

Yes,but for those reading even though the open letter valve covers do not have the notches the gaskets used on them do and so the same amount of tabs apply's. Also for those wanting nuance details,the top and bottom surface of the gasket were many times but not always coated with a dark almost black coating which maybe helped adhesion. Examples of the gaskets can be seen in the early Shelby catalogs. I simply paint with flat black to duplicate the look. The sides/edges are bare cork . NPD used to sell gaskets already done up but they may have stopped.The FE versions of the same time frame were silver covered cork by contrast. 

[CharlesTurner]

NPD sells gaskets with the correct tab locations for all tabs.  Would have to do add paint to the top to make it look original.  According to a very early 65 GT350 parts list, the gaskets were from Ford.

[EdwardGT350]

tabs original for 66 or cut off all tabs?

[J_Speegle]

tabs original for 66 or cut off all tabs?

They were the same gaskets as used for all the other 289 applications so tabs were visible and present all the way around  

Pictures were posted in another thread when the question was asked before

http://www.saacforum.com/index.php?topic=3416.msg30129#msg30129




Earlier threads

http://www.saacforum.com/index.php?topic=1123.msg20092#msg20092

[papa scoops]

the valve covers have no provisions for the tabs. phred

[Bob Gaines]

the valve covers have no provisions for the tabs. phred

Regardless of which valve cover, open letter or closed letter the gaskets used had the tabs.

[EdwardGT350]

was told at saac 44 in sonoma to cut off the tabs for 66.

[Bob Gaines]

was told at saac 44 in sonoma to cut off the tabs for 66.

I suppose who ever told you that hadn't studied the vintage pictures enough or had forgotten. Been there done that.  I know sometimes I look at a vintage picture 20 times and on the 21st time I see something that I hadn't seen in the same picture before. The understanding we have about the details is still evolving. FYI the cork gaskets need all of the tabs in place because some gaskets don't have all 6 . Also sometimes the tabs on the later gaskets are in the wrong spot. The good news is that the tabs can be made to look as they should like I mention in my other post.

[EdwardGT350]

66 gt350 with tabs