[T3] Valve. Covers..

[Jim Adney]

On 30 Oct 2011 at 21:47, Know One wrote:

> At the last small VW gathering held in the Sacramento area I managed
> to pick up a pair of valve covers for $1. Once I clean them up, I'll
> have a spare set.

Now you need a spare set of heads and bails, so you can preglue 
gaskets and then compress them against clean heads to have them all 
ready to put in place.

> I messed with my cover this morning and noticed that on mine and both
> I bought, the lip of the lower left corner is bent out away from the
> perpendicular it should have been. 

They're all like that and I don't know why. They also all have a 
little extra metal in one place with a hole in it; I'm guessing 
that's how they were suspended for painting.

> I bent my cover's lip back to where it should have been, applied a
> little bit of grease to both sides of the gasket. I bent the bail a
> little bit best I could and replaced it and installed the cover. 

Bending it back is fine, but maybe that was bent out to help get them 
off if they got stuck to the head. I really don't know.

> I fired it up and lo and behold, it didn't leak! 

> Concerning one comment to only take the bail off to the up direction,
> not the down direction. When the bail goes up, it lands against the
> sealing surface of the upper part of the head. 

Sorry, brain fade: I think I got that backwards. Pry the bails off 
downwards. If you try to pry them upwards you will stretch them and 
the bails will get "stretched."
 
> I finished up balancing the carbs and went for a nice drive. I checked
> when I got back and found a small drip at the cover, but a steady drip at
> the right front lower edge of the case. I looked and didn't see any leaks
> from the push rod tubes. Ideas of what is leaking where?

Check around the base of the oil cooler. If that's not it, suspect 
the flywheel seal.

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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