please tell me where you get them!!! I've never had the, much under $15 I think. I reuse the new one I put on 3 times I think (Had the valve cover off for other reasons than valve tightening). It's starting to leak now, but not a hige leak, just seeping really.

I reuse mine- a very small amount of grease(i have mobil 1 chassis grease in a gun now) smeared across the sealing surface works great for me.

Even Fastlane is well under $15...

I guess I'm out of the parts loop!! Fastlane?? I've always used overnightautoparts.com or ***************

http://catalog.peachparts.com/



AH is $4.57 for Elring or CRP.

******** usually cheaper all around, yet "the times they are a'changin'"

This is what I do: I get the new gasket and a 99 cent tube of silicone sealant (in my area they have 99cent stores). I fill the goove in the new gasket with the silicone. Use brake cleaner to clean the rim of the valve cover (or the silicone will not stick to it), let it dry and put the gasket on with only enough force to keep it on. Wipe off the oil from the sealing area on the cylinder head. Install the valve cover but only tighten the nuts down finger tight. This squeezes out the excess silicone (wipe off if you want to). Next I let it sit for 3-4 hours so the silicone sets up. I beleive this leaves a layer of silicone and gives the gasket more springyness and seals off any uneveness in the valve cover. After the silicone is set up I tighten the valve cover and like others said do not over tighten. If I remove the valve cover later I clean off the sealing area of the gasket with brake cleaner so the silicone will stick to the gasket, let it dry and smear on a little silicone. Wipe the oil off of the sealing area on the cylinder head and reinstall the cover. If you put silicone in the gasket groove I would think that later when the gasket itself gets hard (unless it splits) that careful renewing the silicone on the outer sealing area would still create a good seal.