WTB ALLOY VALVE COVER RENAULT CROSS FLOW HEAD

[1970S2]

WTB  ALLOY VALVE COVER RENAULT CROSS FLOW HEAD, located in Ontario Canada.....thanks in advance

[Richard48Y]

That makes two of us.
Wonder how many it would take to get a "Group buy" discount?

[jbcollier]

Aluminium valve covers are heavier and much more difficult to seal.  I had to have custom gaskets made to finally seal mine.  If I did it again, I would stick with the OEM steel one.

Mecaparts and Lotus-supplies carry them.  Very, very occasionally they come up used on ebay or FS on this site or the Europa io group.

[Richard48Y]

Not intending to be argumentative, I've heard about the sealing and weight issues before.
I have some machine tools and feel confident in making the necessary mods for an effective seal.
As to the weight, not really concerned at it cannot be that much more and the look would be so attractive.
The original multi-layer tin cover is surprisingly heavy.

[GavinT]

Just weighed 'em.

Renault steel cover comes in at 2.67 Kg.
Renault Gordini ally one is 1.99 Kg.

I'd have to agree the steel cover is easier to seal. The stock rubber gasket locates in a channel which stops it squishing out sideways.
All the ally covers I've seen use a flat lower face so fitting a cork gasket certainly requires some care and attention.

Incidentally, I wouldn't be surprised if the "LOTUS" branded ones are sturdier - they look to be.

[jbcollier]

Too sturdy, they are heavier than the stock steel one.  I had them both to hand.  The original, rounded, Gordini one I have not seen in person... want to sell it?  ;-)

The very lightest option is to strip the outer layer off the steel one.  It's just there to quiet thing down.

[GavinT]

Not looking to sell but the sturdy ones are perhaps more practical. The OEM Gordini one is a die casting like much of the Renault stuff so it's quite thin.

Mine has cracks adjacent to each of the hold-down holes with the worst one being the middle hole (pic attached).
My bet is that this occurred when cranking down the hold-down nuts in an attempt to stem an oil leak.
It can be welded, I expect, and I'll include a stiffener inside.

[MRN I J]

Salv Sacco used to sell them in the UK, i'm sure that he sold both types.
Dont use a gasket, use the grey industry std silicon sealant

[jbcollier]

That crack is probably due to over tightening trying to stop leaks.  The gasket supplied with them may be too thin.  I had a batch of cork gaskets made up from 1/4” thick cork sheet, problem solved.

[GavinT]

1/4” thick cork sheet? - cool. I haven't actually used this cover yet.
It seems to me the tricky thing with these covers is that two different areas are being sealed.

The outer rim of the cover is being clamped to seal the head surface perimeter while also needing to seal the rubber rings on the spark plug tubes.
Perhaps the PO of mine didn't get that right and kept cranking it down.

[jbcollier]

Yes.  Whoever designed the alloy cover didn't quite get the two distances right.  If you use the stock spark plug well seals, it holds the cover up too high.