Wanted to see if anyone had any ideas for an issue that I am in the process of resolving. Just had my b16 valve cover welded with two 10 an bungs up front. I am running a full-race ramhorn manifold so I was crossing my fingers that the clearance would be enough. Unfortunately, the clearance is just a little tight. When the valve cover is torqued down, I am not able to thread on my two 10 an 90 degree fittings. I can, although, secure the fittings on the cover first and then sit it down. My problem then is that the fittings (as you can imagine) are now lying on and making contact with the manifold and not allowing me to torque down the valve cover entirely (there is a slight gap).

So, I am not worried that my fittings are making contact slightly with the manifold. Also, my nylon braided lines are far enough away from the manifold. My problem is this gap. I attempted to lay a thick bead of Permatex Ultra Black rtv silicone sealant to fill the gap in the middle of the cover (this helps but looks like ***). Was wondering if anyone had any other ideas.

I do not want to relocate the fittings to the back of the cover. I do not want to dent my manifold (full-race, not cheap). I do not believe I will be able to heat up the bungs and bend them (aluminum, might crack). I need to find another way to get the cover to seal properly. I only need to fill maybe an 1/8th of an inch gap. Was wondering if there is maybe some silicone gasket sheets out there that are a little thicker than the factory gasket in which I could maybe cut myself and place in the front of the valve cover to help fill the gap. Maybe somebody else out there has another idea. As a last resort, I could probably seal it with the gasket maker some more although I am pretty **** and can't really stand to make stuff look half assed. If only they sold a tad thicker factory valve cover gasket.

Let me know.

 

How about removing some threads of the fitting that screws in to allow it to sit closer to the v/c?

I don't think heating the fitting to bend it will work, and I also don't think using gasket maker to fill the gap would work as the grommets around the v/c studs need to bottom out.

 

That's a good idea although I don't think it would solve the problem. I think that unless I can get something in there to give me more clearance (like how a spacer works, or a thicker gasket) I am going to be sol. Here are a couple pics to show you the clearance I have:




I just need to raise the fitting up enough so that it clears the manifold.

 

TBH I think you're screwed. Why didn't you have these installed at the rear of the VC?

 

^^^ I agree.
Just buy 2 -10 caps and put on them and have them added to the back. It's a better location anyways since the baffling isn't in the way.