[AlfistiSA]

Everyone has their own personal preference on how to do things, I totally agree with Uncle Gordon on first checking that the cam cover is FLAT - I have a chunk of marble countertop in my workshop from a kitchen sink installation and use it as a flat rubbing surface for large items like cam covers. A dab of valve grinding paste or Autosol aluminium polishing paste will soon show you high or low spots on the cover. When it's absolutely flat & washed spotlessly clean again, I glue the new cam cover gaskets to the cam cover using ordinary yellow contact adhesive. I then place the cover flat on my marble slab again (opposite side to the side I sanded on) and add weight over the top & leave overnight for the adhesive to fully cure. I then run a bead of contact all around the inside edge of the gasket, wiped off with my finger - this waterproofs or more correctly oil-proofs the edge of the gasket & even the old cork gaskets never sweated after doing this.

Gasket + cover are then fitted dry to the head & pulled down with a home made tool & I don't have leaks as a rule, Fiber washers at the front & middle & aluminium ones at the back, although some of my cars have 6 fiber washers.

My can cover nut tool is a length of old flat bar around 180mm with a 14mm bolt welded to it & I pull it down sympathetically

Aye
Greig

 

[AlfistiSA]

Hi Dave

Sorry slow reply, I generally fit the aluminium washers at the back like they always did on the 105's. A properly installed cam cover & gasket rarely leaks. The Veloce ones tended to suffer from crank case pump up more than the Normales for obvious reasons. Proper installation of the vent tube at the back of the block generally sorts this out.

For me the secret to the cam cover is to make sure it's 100% flat before you install it. Your method of installing the gasket is excellent and should ensure a leak free top end.

The Normale cover doesn't need the aluminium washers to ground the cover, that's done by the air filter bracket. The Veloces didn't ground the cover either, just the tapered water rail tube

Ciao
Greig

 

[AlfistiSA]

Front crank pulleys are notorious for either cracking along the keyways or being rough where the seal runs which eats the lips of the seals and allows oil to sweat past the seal where the fan distributes it nicely around the engine compartment

There are advantages to living in a tropical climate 😇

G