Im replacing the valve cover gaskets and was wondering if anyone knew the bolt tightening sequence as well as the torque spec. Thanks
Just barley snug with a hand held nutdriver (screwdriver with a socket on the end). If they are to tight...you will squeeze out the gasket. Not very technical....I know.
Tightening Torque When tightening " without " a torque wrench it's sometimes helpful to tighten the bolt with your LEFT hand if you're a righty .. and vise versa . Use the weak hand and you'll exert less force in this critical area. Cometized ( Chip )
U will have to re-tighten them after a few heat cycles of the engine. That has always been the case for me.
X 2. With Felpro's newer cork, they have steel grommets at the holes to limit the compression of the gasket, this prevents the gasket and the valve cover rails from being distorted. I use a 1/4" drive ratchet to tighten the bolts, holding the top of the ratchet in the palm of my hand and getting them "wrist tight".
No matter what type you use, I've found that 2 fingers and a thumb with a nutdriver is good. If you get some seepage after a while, you can always snug them a teense more. It's much easier to snug a teense more, than to have to change a gasket due to cranking down on the bolts! I've seen folks actually bend the valve cover by tightening too tight!
They were Fel Pro gaskets with the steel grommets. The bolts heads required an allen wrench so I tightened them up hand tight.Ive been driving for two days now and no leaks so ill check in couple weeks to see if I have to tighten them up again. Thanks for all the replies guys. Since the valve covers were off I decided to clean them up
I also took a picture of the casting code on the heads. Does anyone know if they are stock? It read 9M29 with a B above it. The other side has a 302
That's the date code. 9M29 translates to December 29, 1969, making them 1970 model year castings. Probably C9TE castings. You're using FelPro's steel reinforced silicone gaskets, not the steel grommet cork. The only thing you'd need worry about are snapping the cover bolts by torqueing them too tight. You cannot over torque those gaskets, period.