Tappet chest side covers.

[Paul Harris]

Has anybody had experience of the best gaskets to use to cure the usual oil leaks from these covers?
I see that there are some silicone ones now on the market....any good do you reckon ?
Paul.

[Geoffrey Edwards]

Hi Paul,

I have tried the silicone gaskets, but have gone back to the original cork variety - in my experience, they do seem to seal better.

Geoff

[Peter Cresswell]

I too have tried both. The red silicone type are probably the hardest to work with as they tend to slip as the cover is tightened up. Silicone is naturally a slippery substance (as in Back to Black). The set of MG Rover gaskets I have at present has a sort of rubberised cork for these (and the rocker cover) gaskets. I usually use a smear of instant gasket on them to help the sealing.
A common mistake is to over tighten the central bolt in an attempt to improve the sealing. All this does is to distort the rim of the cover, which gives the opposite effect to that intended. The Haynes manuals I have doesn't seem to give a torque figure for these covers, but my early MGB manual gives a figure of 2lb ft but this is for the flatter covers used on the early cars. My MGC manual gives a torque of 5lb ft for the deep pressed covers and for the cover which has the oil separator, it should be torqued to 15lb ft.

[Paul Harris]

Thanks for your advice chaps.
I shall keep to standard gaskets then.
Have just stripped it down...cause of oil leak was that the cover was actually loose ! From the grime covering this area, I doubt if it has ever been touched, so at least the cover should not be distorted ! Fingers crossed.

Paul.

[Paul Hollingworth]

The problem with cork is that it hardens/settles so the elastomer gasket is the better option long term. I always glue the gasket to the cover with gasket goo. The last time I fitted an elastomer one it seemed too small for the cover with the breather which made it difficult to glue. I was doing this job in the car with manifolds still in place which made it awkward. If your engine is out of the car it should be easy to see that its in place properly. Once the glue sets you should be able to take it on and off multiple times and the gasket stays glued to the cover. The same goes for rocker box gaskets. I take the point about not over tightening.
Paul