The valve covers were no exception as I learned (again) that off-brand stuff is not worth the money, time or effort.
Even though they looked nice and appeared to be built properly, the aftermarket valve covers I got from an eBay seller were not sealing properly.
This meant going through three sets of valve cover gaskets, with the last one being thick cork-material gaskets.
Nothing prevented a small amount of oil from finding its way out of the engine, down the rear part of the block (which led me to believe the main seal was to blame), and onto my garage floor.
Aside from that, the nice polished finish started to corrode and there was no way to stop that, short of taking the covers off the motor, polishing them, then spraying clear in order to protect them. That was way more time and money I was willing to devote to such a project.
The solution? Order a new set of Edelbrock Elite II valve covers. And while I was at it, I went ahead and ordered a new set of nice and thick valve cover gaskets also made by Edelbrock.
As the photos above show, the quality of these valve covers is top shelf, and fortunately, the cover breathers I had, fit nice and snugly so I was able to reuse them.
To make sure the valve cover gaskets were properly installed, I used 3M Weatherstrip and Gasket Adhesive to the side of the gasket that would be in contact with the valve cover. I also made sure the gasket was fully seated since it is a tight fit. And I also cleaned the lip on the heads to ensure there would be a proper seal.
And here's another pic of the motor with all the new Edelbrock components installed, including the Pro-Flo Series air cleaner. I decided to go with this one—for the time being—because of air-cleaner-to-hood clearance concerns.
At some point in the future, I plan to go with an L-88-style hood which will give far more room in case I want to install a larger air cleaner, but for now, this one will have to do.
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