Re: [AMC-List] Plastic Valve Covers on the 258

["John Elle" <johnelle@xxxxxxxxx>]

SNIP
Hi all,
I stumbled across two AMC's that are available for adoption to a good
home for
a small fee.  1981 SX/4 with 84k showing and a 1983 Concord wagon I
didn't
check the mileage.
The one common thing between the cars is the 258 with a plastic valve
cover and 
both are deformed with no possibility of sealing.
SNIP
Deformed on the driver's side along the exhaust manifold?
-Spro
SNIP
 
If Ford had a better idea complete with the flashing light bulb, AMC's
use of the plastic valve cover was an indicator that the lights were not
all on in the attic. 
This was a dismal failure. The plastic would deform when tightened, it
would crack when stressed under heat and age (well duh! What goes on
under the hood?)
And the extra heat where the exhaust comes out of the center of the head
would cause the plastic to deteriorate badly on the driver's side.
Bottom line, this was really a poor idea. 
Aftermarket?
There were at least 2 after market improved plastic valve covers. I have
used one of them. The problem with them was they too did not like over
tightening and when trying to install one with the engine in the car and
after many miles of abuse, neglect and oil leaks over tightening was
pretty much going to be a given. Also the recommended sealant was
weather seal glue for the front door of your house. This was also a
really poor choice as the now greasy engine that was extremely hard to
work with when in the car, covered by smog components and vacuum lines
and a really healthy build up of road grime and grease really did not
let the weather seal glue stuff work, if it ever could and I frankly
don't think that it could. 
My opinion of one of the aftermarket plastic valve covers was if you
substituted formagasket #2 or formagasket aviation gasket cement it
actually would work. 
However the best solution is to install aftermarket aluminum valve
covers. For the most part these are made for Jeep Applications and will
feature Jeep words embossed on the valve cover. These too will be
difficult to install. 
1.      The cylinder head may not be drilled and tapped for the mounting
screws. There are assorted variations of this theme and almost
impossible to do with any degree of accuracy with the engine located
inside the car. 
2.      The recommended gasket sealant in some cases is the front door
weather seal cement. Again, not the best choice when dealing with this
application and pre-existing grease etc. use Formagasket #2 or
Formagasket avaiation cement. For those of you that will make a case for
some form of RTV forget it. Use Formagasket #2 or Formagasket aviation
cement. 
3.      There are after market valve cover solutions, if done carefully
some of them actually work well. If done on an engine sitting on an
engine stand it is an almost guaranteed satisfactory solution. 
Are there solutions to this, yup but plan to be frustrated. 
 
SNIP
BTW - I'm looking for a '72 Hornet Sportabout - V8 preferred.
SNIP
 
Got a 76 232 X package Sportabout
 
John
 
 
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