Help - cam cover to cylinder head gasket

[nqld911]

Help please guys.

My mechanic is rebuilding my 3.0 l SC, and the gasket kits supplied here in Australia did not include one [or 6] for between the cam cover box and cylinder head. Some of the suppliers over here as saying to just use a sealant and not use a gasket at all? Not really that keen on that?

In Waynes book on page 153 at the bottom there is a picture of 3 yellow gaskets. These are the ones we need. I looked thru the Pelican lists of parts and could not find the matching ones.

Are they called something else? Does anyone know a supplier in Australia - or failing that - anywhere, and what exactly they are called or a part number?

I am new, but will try to attach a photo from the book.

Thanks for any info

James

[wilke3169]

The area you show is sealant and not a gasket. I don't believe there is a gasket made.

[ChrisBennet]

Maybe someone in the Pelican organization is removing the cam carrier gaskets and selling them on the black market??
Those aren't gaskets but the sealant (Loctite 574) sure looks like a gasket in that picture. I can see how you'd be confused.
I'd use Three Bond 1104 in that application. It just tastes better.
-Chris

[nqld911]

Thanks guys. A gasket was removed when the motor was pulled down - which is why we are looking for one. Did there used to be one?

Does the sealant do as good a job as a gasket would? We are keen to get it right the first time. It does seem like a gasket would be better - but then again I am new to motors.

Does anybody use a gasket?

Thanks

James

[ChrisBennet]

Originally posted by nqld911
Thanks guys. A gasket was removed when the motor was pulled down - which is why we are looking for one. Did there used to be one?

Does the sealant do as good a job as a gasket would? We are keen to get it right the first time. It does seem like a gasket would be better - but then again I am new to motors.

Does anybody use a gasket?

Thanks

James

As gasket isn't mentioned in the factory manuals or parts catalogue. You actually need very little sealant. When you disassemble a 911 motor that hasn't been disassembled before you will be surprised at how thin the sealant is between the heads and cam carrier. It's so thin you can see through it.

Maybe someone added a gasket to space the cam carrier up to make up for shaved heads? I've never heard of that but I don't get out much.

-Chris

[Walt Fricke]

This is the chuckle of the day.

Wayne's computer coloring skills got away from him - in his first edition this picture showed the yellow "where to apply the sealant" area also covering the space between each head (which, of course, is not a sealed area as the parts don't touch there). But his book says apply sealant.

This was designed, like the case half sealing, to be used without a gasket.

Someone would have to go to some trouble to make gaskets, as I don't think they have ever been commercially available (they not being needed). If some changes to engine dimensions (decking spigots, shaving heads, messing with cylinder height) threw the cam distance from the intermediate shaft off kilter, and they didn't want to correct that with spacers under the cylinders (which would affect CR), and didn't want to make or purchase oversized chain idler gears, then maybe using a gasket as a spacer might make some kind of sense. I'd be inclined to make them out of metal shim stock and use sealant on both sides, but on reflection I'm not sure if a little wiggling around here would really matter. On the other hand, a compressible gasket thick enough to correct a dimensional issue would seem to be asking for trouble.

If this was my engine and I had the heads off, I'd be inclined to do some measurements (or have a machinist do them) to see if there had been some odball modifications done to the case, the cylinders, or the heads.

Walt Fricke

[JeremyD]

Walt - your post made me chuckle - after having just completed this I thought exactly the same thing - why the ___ am I applying loctite here when this isn't a sealing surface.

And Chris - yes - so thin that it looked like NOTHING was there before except for a few stray "hairs" of brown loctite around the screw holes.

[Walt Fricke]

While on the topic of where to apply the sealant: I skip the part between the intakes and the exhausts. No oil can get to that area, so why bother. I also just run a thin bead around the openings and the stud holes and skip the paint roller step (ditto with the case). Seems to work just fine and the little excess that squeezes out causes no trouble.

Walt

[ChrisBennet]

Originally posted by Walt Fricke
While on the topic of where to apply the sealant: I skip the part between the intakes and the exhausts. No oil can get to that area, so why bother. I also just run a thin bead around the openings and the stud holes and skip the paint roller step (ditto with the case). Seems to work just fine and the little excess that squeezes out causes no trouble.

Walt

Same here.
-Chris