Odd valve cover thing

[pauleyman]

Ok I've done dozens of installs. I don't even think about it. I went to put the valve cover on this car and it wouldn't sit flush. I double checked it a few times and finally just put the bolts in and sucked it down. Gasket wouldn't even touch the head at first. Never seen this. I didn't have to crank the bolts down to get it down but it wasn't like usual. Comments?

 

[curt-s]

The only thing I can think of (outside of cam towers or their bolts not being torqued down but you'd instantly know that) is the spark plug seals are thicker than "normal". What brand? My set is Mahle or some such, and I've not seen seals that fat and round before.

 

[pauleyman]

It's a fel pro set. Looks normal. Half moon looks normal. All cam towers are good. I'll double check it tomorrow and see if the bolts have relaxed. Might need another retorque. It's just weird.

 

[CrackedDSM]

Wonder if the gasket came out of the track a little or twisted a bit in the track. I'd be curious how it looks if you pulled it back off. I've never had that happen even with new gaskets. Just recently used the felpro one myself too.


I did have a similar issue happen when I was sent the wrong gasket by RockAuto. It was for a black hyundai VC and was way too thick.

 

[pauleyman]

Wonder if the gasket came out of the track a little or twisted a bit in the track. I'd be curious how it looks if you pulled it back off. I've never had that happen even with new gaskets. Just recently used the felpro one myself too.


I did have a similar issue happen when I was sent the wrong gasket by RockAuto. It was for a black hyundai VC and was way too thick.

I pulled it a couple times. It wasn't twisted. I also thought the hyundai gaskets are identical. Just the bolt holes are deeper.

 

[CrackedDSM]

I pulled it a couple times. It wasn't twisted. I also thought the hyundai gaskets are identical. Just the bolt holes are deeper.

I’ll have to dig through my build thread to find it, but it wasn’t identical at all. I had to fight them to get me the actual one from Felpro and it went in like butter.


Edit: Found it. Here's comparison pictures.

Altered Mental Status (1G AWD 5spd)

Update #1: So, I had a giant pity party for myself yesterday, then decided it was time to cancel that shit and move on to useful stuff. So I adapted and overcame. Thus...this happened!Last pictures of the old owner took for me of it on the "adapt and overcome" tow setup. Worked like a...

www.dsmtuners.com

 

[pauleyman]

Boy you're right that's different. This one is not hyundai. I've got several others laying about. I might need to go look at them.

 

[curt-s]

My large gasket is like the thicker one but my plug gaskets are even thicker than that. WTF do I have?!