1.6 Rollers and Composit Valve Cover??
1.6 Rollers and Composit Valve Cover?? Ok so i got a set of Corvette LT1 composit valve cover and i have some 1.6 rollers and when i went to do a mock up the valve cover wont clear them im assuming cause if you turn the vavle covers over you see straight pieces that hang down that a stock 1.5 will clear..
I guess my question is do i just need to get busy with a dremel and a cut off whell and cut those off? Or look for different valve covers??
I really like these so i kinda want to make them work and want to start cutting but would rather re-sell if needed..
Thanks
Confuzzled
I guess my question is do i just need to get busy with a dremel and a cut off whell and cut those off? Or look for different valve covers??
I really like these so i kinda want to make them work and want to start cutting but would rather re-sell if needed..
Thanks
Confuzzled
I'd double check before you do any cutting, the LT4 vettes used those same covers and used 1.6RR's stock. I know some of the aftermarket 1.6's can be a little bigger, but I would still suspect that only minimal cutting, if any, would be required.
TECH Veteran
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,147
Likes: 62
From: Little Rock, AR
Corvette LT1 composite and LT4 composite covers are not the same on the inside (though they look the same on the outside). Just remove the drippers from the inside of the LT1 composite covers and you should have the clearance you need.
Just went through this.
If the composite valve cover you have indeed have those tabs hanging down, they need to be cut or machined off either with a Dremel cutoff wheel or a Bridgeport.
Also with the pro-mags and the Comp poly-locks, once they are installed, the poly-locks are extremely close to the roof of the valve cover and can prevent the valve cover gasket from sealing. If the valve cover does hit the poly-locks then the gasket may not properly seal and you will get moisture into the motor and the rockers will rust and the oil will deteriorate. I just went through this and had tons of rust to remove.
I did some additional clearancing on the roof of the valve cover to ensure that this does not happen. The way to tell if there is contact is to place the cover on the motor, press firmly on it and move it around so if there is contact, you will see a chafe mark or a scratch on the roof. Once you see the contact, you can clearance appropriately.
Other thing you can do is machine about .050" or so off of the top of the Comp poly-locks to shorten them just a bit and no further clearancing will be needed to the roof but you will still need to remove the tabs.
I recently installed some ARP perm-locks and I had to machine a good 1/4" off of them because they are much taller than the Comps. I did this with a poor mans Bridgeport (drill press with cutoff wheel and a cross slide vise).
If the composite valve cover you have indeed have those tabs hanging down, they need to be cut or machined off either with a Dremel cutoff wheel or a Bridgeport.
Also with the pro-mags and the Comp poly-locks, once they are installed, the poly-locks are extremely close to the roof of the valve cover and can prevent the valve cover gasket from sealing. If the valve cover does hit the poly-locks then the gasket may not properly seal and you will get moisture into the motor and the rockers will rust and the oil will deteriorate. I just went through this and had tons of rust to remove.
I did some additional clearancing on the roof of the valve cover to ensure that this does not happen. The way to tell if there is contact is to place the cover on the motor, press firmly on it and move it around so if there is contact, you will see a chafe mark or a scratch on the roof. Once you see the contact, you can clearance appropriately.
Other thing you can do is machine about .050" or so off of the top of the Comp poly-locks to shorten them just a bit and no further clearancing will be needed to the roof but you will still need to remove the tabs.
I recently installed some ARP perm-locks and I had to machine a good 1/4" off of them because they are much taller than the Comps. I did this with a poor mans Bridgeport (drill press with cutoff wheel and a cross slide vise).
