What’s the best valve cover gasket. UPDATE

Ok, these Superperformance gaskets are not Super. On a stock head with stealth heads, they leak. Anybody have the best gasket?

Never had any luck with Superformance gaskets. I use Moroso Blue 93055 gaskets. If you have aluminum heads and cast valve covers with flat flanges the cheap floppy Fel-pro rubber gaskets work great.

I used Fel Pro rubber gaskets with my Stealths. The are fine.

The best gasket depends on which valve covers you have. If you have good valve covers then any gasket will work. If your valve covers are bent or warped then you'll need a big thick gasket to have any chance of sealing.

You need to try the real thick cork and rubber gaskets(1/4 to 1/2 inch thick) out there, Mr. Gasket, SCE and probably all the other big gasket companies make them You may, will ' need to tighten them up several times to get them to seal properly but once you got them sealed up they will not leak anymore

Moroso blue rubber with steel core hands down. Not sure if they'll work with a OE cover that has the lip but maybe someone can chime in. No worry about gaskets pushing out or needing to seal with RTV, or buying new ones cause they're reusable.

Cometic. Rubber with a steel core. No leaks, and reusable.

I used to have the old mopar performance chrome valve covers (the tin model, not cast) and would just use the cheap cork style gaskets. They were fine for a one time use. I later upgraded to the Mopar Performace Cast Valve Covers and started using the Moroso blue gasket with steel core. Been on the car for close to 10 yrs now without any issues. I usually check the valves twice a year or so, so they have been on and off many times.

Ok. I should have said stock valve cover with stealth heads. These super performance are just too hard to squeeze. There recommendations of 25 ft lbs of torques on alum heads for a 1/4” bolt is just too much. There thermostat gaskets is made wrong. The bolt holes are too elongated. Won’t be using them again either.

Are you trying to use the pink gaskets with stock stamped valve covers? Greg makes different gaskets for specific applications like yours . It sounds like questions about applications weren't asked before the purchase. Superformance sells a gasket that will work for your particular application all you need to do is ask for the gasket for your valvecover and head combination
I use Superformance gaskets on every part of my engine it's dry everywhere :twocents

Gus

What part number are they? Appears from your description that you’d want the 3184. All the others state in the catalog “for machined surface/ cast or fabricated valve covers”.

Didn’t the factory cast heads have an angle or degree on the valve cover sealing surface along with that same angle or degree on the corresponding factory valve cover

So using a factory valve cover on a flat surface aluminum head is asking for

For a stock v/c and a Stealth Head, I would use a quality cork gasket(felpro), attached/glued to the v/c with ultra black silicone, and dry between the head and gasket.

You just bought the wrong gasket for your application.

The only gasket I know of that really fits W9 heads is a very thin Cometic.

However they seem to last and work great.

Fel Pro I agree valve covers with tabs to lock the gasket into the cover are best. I had an experience a few years ago with a set of fabricated valve covers as it blew a gasket out top end of the track no damage but I have found that valve covers that are smooth on the bottom with no lip and/or tabs have no means of holding the gasket in place at least on my combination. I went back to the M/P cast ones I have ran for years with no problems. I also have studs with nuts instead of bolts to hold the valve cover in place as it makes gasket placement easier upon removal of the cover.

The reuseable MOROSO blue ones are the BEST I've tried. They are so thick you might need longer bolts. I had to get longer bolts.

I've tried many of them on my roadster and they would always vibrate loose and leak a little. A little oil makes such a mess by the end of the season.

Not the MOROSO ones, they stay tight, stay put and stay dry.

Only times I've had VC gasket problems were on rounded head surfaces or valve train interference.
I pretty much always use cork, glued to the VC & a light smear of grease on the other face.
Obviously the surfaces must be straight & flat.
Make sure intake runners & pushrods & valvetrain aren't interfering.
On one engine, the rocker stands at the ends were actually holding the VC off the head. Beveled them.
On another, the VC spacers I used to make helped with the head surface and rocker clearance using OEM VCs.

I use the carbon-x Superformance gaskets on my stock head, stock valve cover combo and it's the best gasket I've ever used. Followed the directions and never a leak.

All gaskets in my hemi are Superperformance except head and exhaust.

I've used the Moroso Blue with steel reinforced and they work great. Last set I bought are the steel reinforced Cometics. They fit perfectly too.

for a BB i use fel-pro 1610 siliconed to the valve cover with a thin layer of oil or grease on the head side of the gasket to allow for easier valve cover removal if maintenance is needed. doing this for many years.

Just remember that rubber is NOT compressible ... it deforms ... and if it gets squeezed too much, then it splits apart. typically, rubber can only be squeezed no more than about 30% of its thickness, then it splits apart.

Cork-rubber material is truly "compressible" and forgives to some imperfections in mating surfaces. I favor the steel cored cork-rubber designs -- they hold their shape, offer compressibility and can be re-used a few times; no need for adhesives (always be careful when using RTV silicone -- too much and it will cause problems such as entering inside the engine, or acting as a slippery grease that allows the gasket to mis-align under compression/squeezing.

I'm a former gasket engineer from a major company and I wrote all the installation instructions.

I also use the Moroso blue steel core ones had real good luck with them.
JimF

The Moroso rubber gaskets work okay when captured between two flat machined surfaces. I wouldn't use them for any other application. The Moroso gaskets split apart almost instantly when used with cast valve covers that have the step in the wrong spot. The cast valve covers shear the rubber just like a big knife.

Picking the correct gasket for an application requires some knowledge. When you are sealing two flat machined surfaces a thin gasket like the Superformance pink works great. When you have cast iron heads and flimsy sheet metal valve covers then you need something super compliant with lots of give so it can fill in the voids.

I have been able to get the cork felpro gaskets to work, but the bolt torque spec is so low, you need to blue loctite the bolts so they don't back off.

On the stroker engines with adjustable rockers, I use the Blue Moroso gasket with an aluminum valve cover.

Well, the Cometics did not work at all. Poured out like spilled coffee. In looking at these Stealth heads, I see a lot off residual oil in the heads. The path to the oil return is not as good as stock heads and the holes are much smaller for drainback. A good sealing gasket is going to be a must. The Carbon Superperformance have worked on two other stock head and valve cover builds. These Cometics did not fit the tin stock covers with a good seal. I’m going to put studs in the heads for better thread engagement and have ordered some Fel-Pro fiber/ rubber for some more squish on these surfaces. Hope that will work. Right stuff sealant on the VC side and I hope it will work.

I bought these Carbon x from Mancini. They did not recommend anything else. I guess I should have called the manufacturer.

i've found that stock (factory) valve covers don't fit worth a crap on edelbrock heads and 440 source is kind of a copy. i did find that the summit (or proform) chrome covers work great and those with the fel-pro 1610 have worked well for me. oil drain back in these alum heads isn't as good as iron. i massage the drain back holes in the heads and have notched the block some to prevent ponding.

The covers fit fine it’s just I have not got any kind of a seal. The Carbon X were so hard. Maybe they need heat to be compressed. Idk. Stock covers are my only option. My next build with these heads will have the drainback worked on.