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Push Rod Cover and Gasket

Scotty

Scotty

Silver Level Sponsor
What is the purpose of this section of the engine having a removable cover? I read it had some to do with casting but is that all?

I have a small leak from it and I'm ordering a gasket for it so before I messed with it, I wanted to learn more about it and it's use. Can anyone tell me a little about it?

Thanks in advance!
 
B

beamdream

Gold Level Sponsor
Scotty said:
What is the purpose of this section of the engine having a removable cover? I read it had some to do with casting but is that all?

I have a small leak from it and I'm ordering a gasket for it so before I messed with it, I wanted to learn more about it and it's use. Can anyone tell me a little about it?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

If you're talking about the side plate cover, that's where you access the cam followers and oil feed pipe to the rocker gear.
Don't know if there's ever been an Alpine engine that hasn't leaked there, good luck trying to fix.

One of the primary cause of leaks is the fact that it bolts to both the head and the block, so when the head comes off for machining (50 year's on I expect that every head has had the surface skimmed) the bolt holes won't realign and the plate warps when people try and refit it.

Assuming you haven't done this before; be aware that the oil filter block needs to come off to access some of the side plate bolts, when you refit the oil filter block make sure the gasket is properly positioned with respect to the oil flow ports.
 
tony perrett

tony perrett

Gold Level Sponsor
The screws are often over-tightened causing the metal around the holes to dimple. The metal should be dressed to ensure that the mating surfaces are as flat as possible. Silicone rubber gaskets are available, which I haven't tried, but probably make a better seal.
 
fastfrontier17

fastfrontier17

Donation Time
tony perrett said:
The screws are often over-tightened causing the metal around the holes to dimple. The metal should be dressed to ensure that the mating surfaces are as flat as possible. Silicone rubber gaskets are available, which I haven't tried, but probably make a better seal.
Click to expand...
I bought a rubber gasket from alpine innovations which I may try soon, but I also bought a rubber gasket of the same material for my timing cover, and with only 15 ft-lbs on the TC bolts it squeezed out a little too much for me to be comfortable. I ended up replacing it with a paper gasket and plenty of gasket sealer.
 
Tim R

Tim R

Silver Level Sponsor
New Forest Gaskets in the UK make a silicon gasket (similar to the Alpine Innovations one but not the same). These seal really well but you need to get used to tightening them up much less than you would do a traditional gasket, they are barely more than finger tight. I have their seals on my sump and timing cover and they are totally oil tight after many 1,000s of miles.

Tim R

 
bernd_st

bernd_st

Bronze Level Sponsor
Tim,
a totally oil tight Alpine engine is still my dream, but never achieved so far. Hope that guy will sell his gaskets on the upcoming event. The rubber tappet chest cover gasket from Alpine Innovations looks and feels rather flimsy though. Have one here, but didn't dare to install it yet...
 
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