[Matthew K]

Hi guys,

After some fairly serious fixups on the rebuild I had done six months ago, the cam cover gasket on my twin-cam GTV 2.0 (4 cyl) is leaking like crazy and needs replacing, as the repairers noted. I wondered whether I could do it myself, to save a bit after recent major bills!

I've never done one before, and I don't own a torque wrench. Should I forget the idea immediately?

On a related note, are there good and bad gaskets? I didn't think the cam cover would be especially mission-critical.

Thanks for any advice / warning / sniggering!

Cheers, MK.

 

[alfettish]

Just buy a torgue wrench. It'll pay for itself.

 

[Matthew K]

How much am I up for? Anything to watch out for?

(I realise these are related questions!!)

 

[sh0rtlife]

simple job

 

[CDM]

You shouldn't need a torque wrench for this, and if you ever worked on a bicycle successfully, you should have the ability to do it.

Worst case:
1: you mix up the spark plug wires, can't resolve the new "ignition problem", become depressed and sell the car a great loss. You regret this for many years, esp. after the new owner crows about the simple fix on the BB.

2: you forget to tighten one of the cam cover caps, it bounces around and falls onto the front pulley, gets flung upward and dents the hood before lodging in the pulley and breaking the crankshaft. Great gnashing of teeth results.

Other than that , pretty idiot proof.

 

[hardtop]

The worst part of the cam cover gasket replacement is removing the old gasket. Depending on the material, and what the PO attached it with, you can go through a few cans of gasket remover to get it all off both the cover and the head.

If you use a scraper, go very gently so you do not gouge the aluminum surfaces. Also be sure to cover the oil and water passages in the head before scraping it so that bits of the gasket don't end up lodged there.

I used one of the Centerline reusable gaskets on my cover, and tacked it to the cover side only. This way I can get to the valves to check them without replacing the gasket.

 

[papajam]

With the cam cover off, I would also recommend replacing the half-moon rubber seals at the rear of the cylinder head. Simple drop in affair.

 

[Matthew K]

Did it last night - fairly easy job - now to see if it actually holds oil!

For fellow Aussies, I can recommend the guy who runs the Ricambi Originali store on eBay - fixed me up with a gasket and a couple of air filters for VERY good prices - nice to deal with as well.