I just painted my valve cover yesterday but I wasn't sure how much to tighten the screws that hold it down. Can somebody please advise?

Also, do I need to torque the plugs down? Or is 'secure' good enough? I'm going to do a compression check tomorrow and I want to make sure everything is fitting correctly..

Thanks in advance..

 

u tighten until u see the rubber start to compress, then u want to stop.

 

7.2 ft/lbs

 

7.2 ft/lbs for what? The plugs or the valve cover?

I want to make sure the valve cover is equally tightened on each corner, so is there a more accurate measurement someone can give me? 20 ft/lbs maybe?

 

it doesnt really matter... as long as there is no oil leaking through... ur fine... i never torque stuff down like spark plugs or the valve cover bolts... just tighten them till u feel its tight enough not to come off... but not too tight...

 

valve cover bolts, just finger tighten and then maybe tighten down a little with a hand tool. i'm stating from first hand experience because they are really easy to over tighten and stripping the thread. just make sure you use hondabond or something along the lines of that and no oil is squirting out.

 

i just do it the german way....goodentight... ha ha

 

Hmm.. there seems to be a difference of opinion here.

Some people say using your best judgement is good, other's say "DEFINATELY" do it..

I can't imagine the engine spitting the spark plugs out.. isn't that kind of what that gray cover is for? ... I want to here more sides of this..

 

It's for the valve cover. As per the specs in the Helms manual.

Plugs, tighten by hand, then go 1/4 turn more with a ratchet.

 

LOL

 

The rule of thumb on plugs is:

go till washer hits, then 1/4 turn more as stated. This "should" be close to the spec of 13 ft/lbs. If you have a TQ wrench, use it and set the plugs to 13 ft/lbs.

Gotta be careful with plugs in an aluminum head, not too tight so you don't strip anything, but tight enough. I strongly recommend that you tq to spec...

On the valve cover, I don't know the spec, but I can corroborate that they're easy to strip per my mechanic...

Take care,

FB

 

me and eglover have snapped enough for 2 valve covers