Rocker Cover holes. How many?

[SteveOS3]

S3 2.9 V6

As part of the gearbox overhaul I've taken the n/s rocker cover off and see that there are 7 holes in the cover and 8 in the head. There looks to be a place for a hole in the cover, and there is a matching hole in the head, see below.

It's an alloy cover.

Is this normal?






Also, the bolts are of differing lengths, the corner ones have a section that extends beyond the threaded section; maybe to prevent overtightening?

I'd like to replace the bolts with stainless but not sure if I would need spreader plates as the current setup only has washers.
Thinking of getting these as per a link from RayTVR:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-COLOGNE-V6-2-8-2-9-...

[SteveOS3]

Hmmm, picture shows 14 bolts but description says 16.

It also says that they won't fit the alloy cover but will fit the pressed steel. Maybe the pressed steel had 8 holes, my alloy cover has 7.

[SteveOS3]

Cheers everyone.

I ordered gaskets from a few people online who had pictures showing the spacers but they turned out to be plain cork - I kept the plain cork set from Burton Power.

I'll drill out the blank tab and get some Allen cap bolts in M6 stainless.

That's the easy bit over with, tonight I'll be mainly dropping the diff' carrier to get the propshaft out. I hope there's enough give in the new rear diff' mount to drop the front far enough.

Thanks again,

Steve