Ontopic The new car-seching thread

The mice that live int he shed scratched away at the gasket for the rocker cover on the lawn tractor, at least I'm assuming that was it. Either way, the gasket ain't gasketing anymore and oil is very slowly seeping out.

So I ordered up new gaskets from MTD, along with new rocker covers just in case, it's all cheap parts, so fuck it.

My question is, once I get the rocker cover and old gasket off:

A) what should I use to clean the surface of the engine block/cylinder head, whatever the rocker cover attaches onto.

B) what, if anything, should I apply to the surfaces to make the gasket do its thing.


Link to said rocker cover.



It's due for its oil change anyway, so kinda good timing. Gotta drain it anyways. Change the fuel filter, air filter, oil filter, etc.
ill reserve my judgy comments until after providing help

A) razor blade and carb cleaner

B) Nothing, but you can apply a thin coat of a grease to make it not stick so bad next time you replace it



why would you have to remove the rocker cover to change the oil

goddamn, your new shit breaks constantly.
 
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ill reserve my judgy comments until after providing help

A) razor blade and carb cleaner

B) Nothing, but you can apply a thin coat of a grease to make it not stick so bad next time you replace it



why would you have to remove the rocker cover to change the oil

goddamn, your new shit breaks constantly.
Read it again, robit. He has to change the oil anyways, so its a good time to do this.
 
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ill reserve my judgy comments until after providing help

A) razor blade and carb cleaner

B) Nothing, but you can apply a thin coat of a grease to make it not stick so bad next time you replace it



why would you have to remove the rocker cover to change the oil

goddamn, your new shit breaks constantly.

You don’t read good, do ya.
 
Read it again, robit. He has to change the oil anyways, so its a good time to do this.

Curb Your Enthusiasm Bingo GIF by Jason Clarke
 
I use carb cleaner/brake cleaner/acetone/whatever and a paint stick to scrape the coarse stuff off, then scotchbrite and more solvent to get it really clean. Then lube the gasket on both sides with a light bit of engine oil, put the valve cover on and send it.

Prying off a valve cover that's RTVed on is a pain in the dick and often times you end up bending the valve cover and you gotta fuck with it and resort to even more RTV to get the thing back on and sealed. And cleaning the old stuff off is a shitty job.

Don't do that shit unless there's no gasket available or you don't give a shit about the engine.
 
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I use carb cleaner/brake cleaner/acetone/whatever and a paint stick to scrape the coarse stuff off, then scotchbrite and more solvent to get it really clean. Then lube the gasket on both sides with a light bit of engine oil, put the valve cover on and send it.

Prying off a valve cover that's RTVed on is a pain in the dick and often times you end up bending the valve cover and you gotta fuck with it and resort to even more RTV to get the thing back on and sealed. And cleaning the old stuff off is a shitty job.

Don't do that shit unless there's no gasket available or you don't give a shit about the engine.

I bought new covers just in case.
 
I use carb cleaner/brake cleaner/acetone/whatever and a paint stick to scrape the coarse stuff off, then scotchbrite and more solvent to get it really clean. Then lube the gasket on both sides with a light bit of engine oil, put the valve cover on and send it.

Prying off a valve cover that's RTVed on is a pain in the dick and often times you end up bending the valve cover and you gotta fuck with it and resort to even more RTV to get the thing back on and sealed. And cleaning the old stuff off is a shitty job.

Don't do that shit unless there's no gasket available or you don't give a shit about the engine.
Meh, I've got valve covers on Nissans that don't have gaskets, that are meant to be sealed with gasket maker. It's no better and no worse than a gasket IMO.
 
Oil pan on one of my old Nissan trucks was like that, no part number for a gasket because there isn't one, just permatex/rtv/whatever from the factory and worked just fine.
 
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One day I'll probably cast my own. The two end pieces visible are likely going to get cut up, about 1/8th" at a time, scanned, and then I'll import the scans into Solidworks and work on fabricating my own for printing.

This was posted in relation to these pics on another forum. Damn near magic.
 
One day I'll probably cast my own. The two end pieces visible are likely going to get cut up, about 1/8th" at a time, scanned, and then I'll import the scans into Solidworks and work on fabricating my own for printing.

This was posted in relation to these pics on another forum. Damn near magic.

I had posted about these here, a while back. You guys were "non-commentary". They're not magic, the "weld" is just a braze. But cool for some projects. Probably best for aesthetics vs. strength. Unless you want to stress test every piece.
 
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