Speed Six Cam Cover Refresh

[ahardy1963]

Hi.Can anyone recomend where or how to get the cam cover resprayed. Seen some that have been resprated in the cars body colour and polished. Looks sensational. Not sure where to start. With thanks.

Edited by ahardy1963 on Saturday 19th April 10:27

[mk1fan]

Buy a spare cover and HT lead cover then get then blasted and sprayed. Absolutely nothing special or extraordinary needs to be done simply because it is a TVR. Choose your colour and finish. Then swap them over next service.

[BradRWills]

I had mine down by aurora powder coating in Aldershot, a few weeks ago, in illusion orange. I didn’t want mine body coloured, preferring the contrast of the orange against the blue/purple.

They did a great job for a good price and I’d recommend them.

[Modrich]

looks cool, where did you get the TVR logo from? will be doing mine soon. If anyone is interested I'm getting silicone cam cover gaskets laser cut in a few weeks to try out.

[Pursyluv]

This was once mine, all work done by Brendan at Concept Performance

[BradRWills]

Modrich said:

looks cool, where did you get the TVR logo from? will be doing mine soon. If anyone is interested I'm getting silicone cam cover gaskets laser cut in a few weeks to try out.

At Delta Rubber by any chance?

It was my dad who you spoke to about it 😂

[Granturadriver]

Modrich said:

looks cool, where did you get the TVR logo from? will be doing mine soon. If anyone is interested I'm getting silicone cam cover gaskets laser cut in a few weeks to try out.

When making new gaskets, you should be aware that leaks often occur on the manifold side of the valve cover, especially on the rear cylinders. Oil settles on the gasket from the inside and, as the screw connection in the aluminum head cannot be tightened firmly enough, the oil seeps under the cover and then drips onto the manifold.

In my opinion, an edge should be provided on the inside of the gasket.

[Modrich]

Thanks for the heads-up GD, what do you mean by 'the screw connection in the aluminum head cannot be tightened firmly enough'?

and

'an edge should be provided on the inside of the gasket'?

[Modrich]

BradRWills said:

At Delta Rubber by any chance?

It was my dad who you spoke to about it ?

Sorry mate, that wasn't me

[BradRWills]

Modrich said:

Thanks for the heads-up GD, what do you mean by 'the screw connection in the aluminum head cannot be tightened firmly enough'?

and

'an edge should be provided on the inside of the gasket'?

I have a concept that im working on at the moment.

The basic issue is that the cover is tightened to 18nM and Viton is quite hard. The cam cover isn’t ‘pressurised’ but there’s quite a lot of forces going on in there - some of the scav pumps are pushing around a lot of pressure.

All of this means that without something holding the gasket in place, it basically ‘pops’ out and fails.

I’ll have another look at the concept product tomorrow and see where we’ve got to with it. But basically a ‘single’ Viton gasket doesn’t do the job really.

[Modrich]

Thanks Brad, that explains it. So the silicone gasket I've had cut is quite soft and very tough, I’ve also had silicone rings cut for the spark plugs seals instead of traditional O-rings. I was thinking to stick the gasket to the head with a thin smear of RTV and tighten the cover.

I even thought of putting a smear of oil between the cover and gasket to aid separation for future checks as I envisage the gasket being reusable.

Any thoughts?

[mk1fan]

Modrich said:

Any thoughts?

Lots. Mostly invassive.

[Sagi Badger]

The most reliable method I have found is to glue the viton gasket to the cam cover, clamp with timber over night etc. before fitting and bolting down in sequence. I contacted Bostik and they recommended an adhesive, pretty standard stuff but there is heat, oil, vibration, viton and aluminium. Haven’t done one for a while and memory is poor.. old age.. but think it was called “serious glue” (bit DIy but worked) but to be sure contact the adhesive manufacturers and get the spec.
RTV doesn’t cut it, it does metal to metal but it must be squeaky clean. I seal both faces, allow 10 mins then lightly clamp, next day pulling down to spec.
One area to watch is the timing cover can stand proud if the head has been skimmed, if so Viton gasket may be the better option but glue it.

[boardinscotland]

BradRWills said:

Modrich said:

looks cool, where did you get the TVR logo from? will be doing mine soon. If anyone is interested I'm getting silicone cam cover gaskets laser cut in a few weeks to try out.

At Delta Rubber by any chance?

It was my dad who you spoke to about it ?

Well this is weird its myself that liaising with your Dad. He has been so helpful and think we are getting close to a solution. He has my raceproved cam cover and I have been getting advice from my specialist in Hexham who has looked after my Tuscan for thea last 17 years.

Will keep you updated

Cheers

Greig

[Modrich]

It's a small world Greig