something in place of valve cover during polishing??

[98DropTop]

hey, I was thinking about polishing my valve cover over the winter and possibly the heat shield while I have time during the winter.... My question is, when I take the valve cover off, what would I need to put in place of it to perhaps help deter moisture etc. from getting in while it sits in my parents rickity garage?

A buddy of mine just told me I can put like lint free cloths soaked in oil over my cams and then some clean lint free cloths over that???

Also while its off, should I buy a new gasket for when it goes back on? is there any thing else I should buy or pointers that any of you guys with prior experience can give me that you can think of??
Any one know of a good place online where I can buy a new oil cap, nothing like injen or greddy??
-thanks-

 

[l3igl3ang]

i wouldnt buy a new gasket unless your old one is old and dry rotted. I always use the same one when i pulled off my valve cover.

and u can always try to find a square bucket thats about the same size as your valve cover and put it over it while getting did

 

[viperlp01]

that oil soaked cloths sounds good and you will pretty much have to get a new gasket. when the gaskets get hot they tend to expand and those gaskets don't retract as easy so when tou try to reuse them they seem to to fit. They are like 25 at autozone.

 

[silvreclips]

I have never had a problem reusing the stock valve cover gasket. It depends on what kind of shape its in when you take it out. When I painted mine I put a trash bag over the cams and then laid a towel on it to hold it down.

 

[98DropTop]

Ya the valve cover will most likely be off and getting polished for the whole winter, , because I wont have heaps of time to did I dont think..... I will probably end up doing the thing my buddy suggested and maybe place a bag over top with something holding the bad down...
As for the gasket we dont have an autozone, and I would most likely have to have a place order the gasket for me or order one online, seeing as im in Canada and they never really have anything for my car other than an oil filter.....

Also, you guys know any good online stores that sells nice looking oil caps, i dont want an injen or greddy one, just one that looks nicer than the stock one....

Any other tips on polishing would be mint too...
back to writing my paper...

 

[snowborder714]

Good tech article on polishing:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/articles-miscellaneous/213484-polishing-102-my-version-newbies.html

 

[Defiant]

Rags are about all you'd need, but it's cheap to get another valve cover and polish whichever one's in the best shape. When you're done, you can either stock or re-sell the extra for virtually no loss.