Fitting valley gasket

[steve-V8s]

Tried to fit a new valley gasket and can’t seem to get the end seals to sit nicely which is causing the valley gasket to sit high and not line up with the ports. Looking at the ones that came off it appears that some of the pointy bit that sits under the head has been trimmed off the end of the seals. I am reasonably confident that all the old silicone has been cleaned off.

Anybody offer any sage advice on this job ? Seals and gasket came from JE so I guess they are the right type. Haines manual says the gasket is marked FRONT but the one I have appears to be ambidextrous

[roysum]

About to embark on this shortly, what IYO is best Quinny ?

R

[steve-V8s]

Quinny said:

Is it the tin, or fibre type??

The valley gasket itself is metal but covered with a black plastic coating.

In your picture I can see that the end seals sit nicely in the notches where the head overhangs the block. On mine it seems the triangular bit at the seal ends is too big to fit in the notches so the end seal will not locate correctly. As a result the valley gasket won't line up correctly. I am tempted to trim a tiny bit off the end seals.

[steve-V8s]

As they came from JE I assumed they would be the genuine article. The gasket itself looks the same as the one that came off, having carefully measured and compared the end seals however it is fairly obvious they came out of different moulds. Will go to the local landy place tomorrow and see what they can come up with.

I am assuming that when the end seal is seated the upper surface should be flush with the gasket surface on the head.

All a bit frustrating as hoped to get it back together today.

[steve-V8s]

The problem is the V is smaller than the plastic V bit. I am temped to trim them so they are flush.

[pic] [/pic]

[steve-V8s]

Quinny said:

To be honest Steve, that looks fine to me....

The gasket, sort of fits around those bits rather than goes over them...Pretty sure mines the same

Have just tried to convince myself that it is ok like that by fitting the end seals and clamps and then bolting the manifold on without the gasket in place. Was hoping to find the plastic bits squashed down but they don’t . The ends of the manifold have a bit that clamps against the sticky up plastic bit but they are sitting so high that it is difficult to start the bolts. The gasket I have does sit over the sticky up bit and it seems to me that the plastic bit has to sit flush with the gasket face not up in the air. In your pic the gasket flows nicely from the end seal onto the head gasket surface. Even if it does all pull into place I have no way of lining up the gasket with the ports. It is all a bit of a puzzle and I am close to triming them back a bit.

[roysum]

Quinny said:

roysum said:

About to embark on this shortly, what IYO is best Quinny ?

R

Roy,
Have a look at the pic, and give it your best guess



To be honest I've used both, and never had a problem, But my personal preference is for the tin one...

I find it easier to match up to the ports

Edited by Quinny on Sunday 21st March 19:28

Oh that ! I thought it was something for putting ya on.

[steve-V8s]

Quinny said:

Ok

I've found my original pics, and have tried to zoom right in on the corners.. see if it helps

In the pic that has the gasket fitted has the manifold been fitted and removed or is that as it went together before it was all clamped up ?

Have just tried to bolt it down again without the gasket and have half convinced myself that it will pull down ok but won't know if the port holes have lined up. Could clamp it down and take it off again I suppose.

[steve-V8s]

Quinny said:

No, these were taken during build up..... The inlet manifold hasn't been fitted...

Think I am going to take a knife to them, there is no way the gasket will rest against the heads like that on mine.

Thanks for all your help.

[anonymous-user]

I would just torque it up and see. If they aren't a tight fit they will leak and you'll end up putting loads of sealant in there. I was a bit concerned when putting mine together so I bought two sets of end seals from different sources and both stick up a lot. I just picked the seals that looked the best made and once it was all torqued up everything lined up fine - relieved.
Mike

[spend]

steve-V8s said:

Quinny said:

No, these were taken during build up..... The inlet manifold hasn't been fitted...

Think I am going to take a knife to them, there is no way the gasket will rest against the heads like that on mine.

Thanks for all your help.

Trim and a bit of sealant - you'd be surprised how many old valley gaskets look to have been overstressed in that area when they come off I used to think it was caused by pulling them off when they'd been stuck down - but I'm not sure these days and would rather take time to make sure of a good fit..

[steve-V8s]

spend said:

Trim and a bit of sealant - you'd be surprised how many old valley gaskets look to have been overstressed in that area when they come off I used to think it was caused by pulling them off when they'd been stuck down - but I'm not sure these days and would rather take time to make sure of a good fit..

OK so do you trim the pointy bit, or fit it and trim off the sticky up bit ?

[djc100]

steve-V8s said:

spend said:

Trim and a bit of sealant - you'd be surprised how many old valley gaskets look to have been overstressed in that area when they come off I used to think it was caused by pulling them off when they'd been stuck down - but I'm not sure these days and would rather take time to make sure of a good fit..

OK so do you trim the pointy bit, or fit it and trim off the sticky up bit ?

I had to trim the seal 'pointy bits' when I fitted a new valley gasket. As you describe they would not sit down without. Take it easy - not too much off and don't forget sealant in the corners.
I don't know what the difference is - I changed them on my previous car and the seals sat down fine without trimming.
R's
David

[roysum]

Well Quinny, I'm not so sure about using another tin gasket. Look what I found today !!

[spend]

That looks more like a composite gasket to me. If you've had unattended long term water leaks either gasket type is going to end up in a mess like that...

Vacuuming, brushing & anal cleaning would have been advised before you pull the manifold and gasket BTW, looks like you are going to have strip the engine down to get that st out now....

[roysum]

I'm pretty sure it's a tin one, I'll pop out and check later. I have had the car nearly two years and it hasn't lost any coolant in that time.

Looks like I'll be doing a bit more work than intended !

R

ps, have you gone to bed yet Spend !

[spend]

Composite gaskets do have a metal core

No bed, 23 hour days are a nightmare

[roysum]

So does the oil just fall down past the push rods to lubricate the cam and drain back into the sump ? anybody

R

[spend]

Yes, but the followers also bleed oil (lift a follower out & you will see the oil gallery that feeds them.

[spend]

Quinny said:

Beaten to it by Spendy

Thank your lucky stars Tubbs is still in bed, sounded like he was ready to give you a 'beating' last night with all that 'man-love'

On a serious note it'd take a lot of heat as well to bake off that coating... I still have my reservations about some of these insulators ??