felpro valve cover gasket installation

[jonathand579]

91 ranger 2.3 lima valve cover replacement. felpro vs 50043 r-1 installation help

 

[tomw]

I am not too sure what kind of help you need. To remove the cam cover, you have to remove the throttle body from the upper intake, otherwise there's not enough room to raise the cover to clear the cam supports. Then remove the PCV valve clean air feed.
After that, disconnect the spark plug wires and lay them towards the drivers side.
Then remove the bolts holding the cover in place. Some may have 'extensions' so keep track of them if they do so you can put them back from whence they came.
Remove the cover. It may stick, so be prepared to use a prybar, gently, to break it loose. Clean all old gasket material from the cover and the cylinder head gasket surface.
The rubber gasket will have to bend over the frontmost bearing support. Align the holes with those of the cam cover. You may find the gasket will hold the bolts in place, also keeping the gasket in place. Put the cover onto the head, tighten fasteners, re-connect all you took apart.
tom

 

[jonathand579]

Thankyou. went a lot better than I thought it would.

 

[tomw]

I have been through 3-4 cam cover gaskets over time. I tried to get a 'rubber' gasket, but it turned out it was a 'rubber-cork' mix, not worth returning, so I used it. Still got my leaks.
Finally have Fel-Pro sitting in the basement ready for me to finish procrastinating and install.
How well did it hold the cover bolts? Did it form over the front bearing support OK? I figure it will have to be compressed between the support and the cover as the cover & gasket slide down into position. The cork/rubber combos bent into place without a lot of difficulty, but somehow they all seem to leak. I did not use any sealer and maybe that was the problem. The Fel-Pro appears to be pre-formed to fit over that bearing supoort without any modification of shape being necessary. It is reusable.
tom