VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc valve cover gasket leaking at rear

I know there has to be a simple resolution, but I can't get the valve cover gasket (in my 36 chevy) seated properly to prevent it from leaking oil. It appears to be leaking only on the driver's side. any thoughts?

Spend some time searching this topic. There are multiple posts even in this forum about trying to stop that leakage.

Note I said trying. It takes patience and finesse to be successful.

The first step is to make sure that the flanges on the valve cover are flat and perpendicular to the sides of the valve cover. These flanges get bent completely out of position by over-tightening the 2 center nuts on the studs to try and stop the leak.

Sometimes the surfaces where the nuts mount are so distorted that the nuts will not push down on the valve cover properly. And don’t forget to replace the seals under those nuts.

Obviously the mating surfaces on the head and valve cover have to be perfectly clean. Whether or not you use some type of gasket sealer is always a big debate. I do use a very light coat of sealer between the head and the gasket. I do that primarily to make sure the gasket stays in position as I install the valve cover.

Carefully lower the valve cover onto the gasket. You need to position the valve cover so the full perimeter of the flanges is as uniformly on top of the gasket as it can be. It is very easy for the rear edge of the gasket to slide out of position.

I had the same problem on my 31-----found out(by reading posts from others in VCCA) that the corners of the valve cover were bent upward ever so slightly...Using a sheetmetal workers "dolly" and a small hammer,with some very careful hammering I was able to flatten out the corners so entire valve cover was "flat"---and all in one plane. Once that was all flattened out ---no leaky no more !!! Best of luck !!

Here is what I did on my 38. I put a gasket in place that was trimmed to fit. I then used a strip of paper to measure the drag pulling it out underneath the flange in steps all around the edge. That showed me where the problems were.

Thanks Guys. The bottom of the cover appears to be straight. Fortunately I had an older (early '36) valve cover. I changed them out and it appears to be holding.
Thanks for your input.