I checked under the hood today while at lunch (I was checking things out
after a nice accidental ABS test so soon after doing the front brakes)
and it looks like the alternator bracket overlaps the valve cover toward
the front drivers side of the engine. I don't know if these fabbed
valve covers would fit there or not...
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: DML: Valve Covers
From: jon@dakota-truck.net
Date: Mon, September 27, 2010 4:48 pm
To: dakota-truck-moderator@bent.twistedbits.net
mailinglists@moparhowto.com wrote:
[...]
> I wonder if something like this would still fit, I kind of like the
> "fabbed" look:
I don't see why they wouldn't. The auction specifically states
that they don't though so it might be worthwhile to just drop them an
e-mail to ask why. It might be they are simply unaware that the LA
pattern is a subset of the Magnum pattern, or there may be something
else.
I like the way the fasteners on those provide the clamping force
at the top of the valve cover, and not just on a thin flange at the
base of the cover, like most valve covers do. That should cause a
more even distribution of the clamping force across the entire gasket
surface, resulting in a better seal.
I don't really care for the bolts pictured in the auction though;
they appear to be an oval or flat head fastener, but the bosses welded
to the valve covers to accept them are not countersunk. This will
result in a small contact area between the boss and the underside of
the bolt head. Probably not a big deal as far as clamping force goes,
but it might look "wrong" and I suspect there is a good chance that
some metal filings could drop down into the oil from the sharp inside
edge of the boss rubbing into the underside of the bolt heads. For
the type of bosses pictured on those valve covers, I would recommend a
non-countersink style machine screw such as a standard
round/button/hex head. Or, possibly the bosses could be countersunk
to match the bolts. They are just aluminum, so it wouldn't be
difficult.
-Jon-
-- Jon Steiger Steiger Performancejon@steigerperformance.com http://www.steigerperformance.com
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