I am putting in new valve cover gaskets on my 350 SW and am having a difficult time accessing the last bolt on the passenger side. It is the lower bolt nearest the firewall on the passenger side. I am using a swivel 3/8 sockes and various extensions. I have large hands and there is not much room with the a/c gizmos and such. Should I go out and get a smaller socket ? Thanks! chris
That's what I was thinking. I don't have a 1/4 rachet set this is a good excuse to get one! Thanks!! chris
Craftsman makes a cool little 1/4" drive nutdrive type tool with a flexible shaft. I put a socket on it and can flex it right down to the valve cover nuts on my 350. Works for me
Thanks for the help! I appreciate it. I think I will pick up one of these flex 1/4 drive externders. I ended up reaching them with a craftsman 1/4 with swivel and extentions but it was not easy. I thought about the flex tool after the fact. Oh well. ..from the looks of it nobody had ever pulled the passenger side valve cover probably because it is so difficult to get to the bolts... Also I had some grey goopy sludge near the head bolts. I cleaned it away. Also I used the rubber gaskets although I have a set of the cork. I have read about leaky rubber gaskets. I will keep an eye on these. chris
Grey = water....what's going on in there?? Hope it's nothing recent. I used the rubber gaskets on my car and they leaked like a *^*&^!! I pulled them off and used some RTV on them and stopped the leaks. You might want to consider using some gasket shellac...it comes in a little brown bottle and has a dauber to brush the sealer on. I found mine at Auto Zone.
I have A/C and can fit a wrench in there. ya, don't use rubber gaskets, they are horible. Even if the parts counter guy reccomends rubber, get CORK! Cork gaskets seal great. They absorb the oil and expand, making them seal even better. Also don't overtighten the bolts. It's amazing how little force it takes to snap those. I learned that the first time I changed a cover gasket....
They grey stuff wasn't frothy or like a milkshake. It was only near the head bolts and was like a glue. I had break it up with a screwdriver and it would not really mop up with a rag. I read some other posts on grey stuff in the heads and thought it might be sludge from old 1970s oil. But heck this is an old motor. chris
I had a set of cork and a set of rubber. I know this sounds sick but I put the rubber ones on partly to see if they are really as lousy as everybody says..and I am anticipating taking the covers off again soon considering this engines problems so the cork will probably be on soon. Speaking of the cork gaskets, I had a tough time finding them. Checker said they didn't carry them, my old standby local store said they didn't carry them but that Felpro made a gasket that was a rubber/cork composite......hmmm So I went to autozone and they had the 100% cork ones made by Felpro! chris
the only advantage to the rubber is they have a better chance of being reused. Once the cork ones set in, they usually always break taking the covers off. I had that grey stuff on mine. It had it when I bought the car almost 3 years ago, and didn't see any problems after just tearing down the motor. Also a motor that I pulled heads off of at the junkyard had it. I think it's just some odd buick thing....
I read on this site the grey sludge could be some sort of head bolt sealer or something. It looked and had the consistency of wet JB Weld! anyways you must be pretty darn good with that wrench wish I could so the same! chris
