I'm a bit confused by the required parts needed for a rocker cover replacement.

I'm wanting to put a polished cover on my engine. I know I'll need a new gasket, and I'd like to use T-bars to hold it on (just for looks).

1. Some T-bars (gbcarparts.com) show a rubber gasket on the bottom of the bolt. Others (minispares.co.uk) say that you need a CHROME spacer and a dished washer - which is it? Just to muddy the water, Minispares also carries rubber washers (grr).

2. Is the gasket on the 1275 single carb engine just a simple cork gasket? I've seen some gasket sets with copper gaskets, but I think that's for the actual head. I want to be sure I get the right one.

3. I assume the best time to do this replacemnt is when you're also doing an oil change, since the oil will be out of the car, or is a sufficient ammount of oil in the sump with the car off and cool for the valve cover to be removed safely?

4. Are any special tools required? With the T-bars, I assume you just finger-tighten them, or must one somehow use a torque wrench on them (if so, how??)

5. Last, are there any special techniques required? Must the gasket be prepped in any way before lowering the new cover? Anything else I nedd to know/stuff to buy? My Haynes book is still on order at Amazon (double-grrr).

 

Just need a gasket. They are normally cork. No need to worry about oil, it's all in the sump. Remove old cover. Clean head surface thoroughly. Attach cork gasket to new cover with some gskt compound. I use Permatex spray (red) in the little cans. Just spray the cover & one side of the gskt, then attach. Don't spray the bottom of the gskt or head. This allows you to remove the cover in the future w/o damaging the gskt for re-use.

Some T-bars are cheap and the bar can vibrate loose when driving & be lost (want a set of I-Bars?) Buy good ones. You need the seal, dished washer and spacer.

There is an alternative to T-bars which is Knurled *****. Also tighten by hand.

 

Ah... so I need the 2 rubber peices as well as the dished chrome washer asnd the chroe spacer? So, in effect, there are two 4-part assemblies holding down the rocket cover (the actual nut/t-bar, the spacer, the dished washer and the ruber washer).

Are any of these peices reusable from my current rocker cover, or should they all be replaced (either for a consistent look or because they wear out)?

Gasket compound is available at any auto parts store?

What about proper tightening torque? Just keep going until nothing leaks out or use a more precise method?