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After the last oils change the left chain cover ha started leaking down on the heat exchanger and the floor. The right is just starting to seep. Looking at this it seems that the cover gaskets are a pretty straightforward gasket job. However, getting to them looks to have several twists. From what I can tell, there are tins that need to be removed and to do that the rear engine support bar needs to go to give clearance. The muffler looks like it should come out as well as the distributor. to me that seems manageable as long as the rusty exhaust pieces don't fall apart.
To be able to work from above and below once the covers are accessible, can I put the rear engine support back in to support the engine while I work around it? I'm thinking that would be much easier then trying to block the motor and having the car stationery in favor of being able to raise and lower the car on the lift as needed.
If anyone out there who has done this has any tips or pointers, I'd love to hear them!
you don't need a lift for this job.. i would block motor from underneath and get everything out of the way including all tin ware engine mount and muffler. its about 20 minutes work.
But it is rarely that gasket that is leaking, this is just the lowest point the oil runs to.
Thanks Iceman: It's not real clear in my photo but you can see the drop forming at the cover gasket. The right side is seeping a bit too. If I tackle one I might as well do both. I have a lift, might as well take advantage of it. Can to tell me whether the exhaust bolts can be punched out after the nuts or heads are cut off? The CAT and muffler bolts are very rusty and much smaller than they used to be. I would consider putting a bypass in place of the CAT if it wouldn't mess up the CFI operation. And do you think the oil tank would need to be drained, or just the case?
Rob: Your neighbor to the South, Vermilion Ohio.
Thanks Iceman: It's not real clear in my photo but you can see the drop forming at the cover gasket. The right side is seeping a bit too. If I tackle one I might as well do both. I have a lift, might as well take advantage of it. Can to tell me whether the exhaust bolts can be punched out after the nuts or heads are cut off? The CAT and muffler bolts are very rusty and much smaller than they used to be. I would consider putting a bypass in place of the CAT if it wouldn't mess up the CFI operation. And do you think the oil tank would need to be drained, or just the case?
Rob: Your neighbor to the South, Vermilion Ohio.
yup i zipped mine off with a cutting wheel and popped in new bolts no problem , don't waste your time with any other methods. its those three bolts and the strap and they are off ( may want to start spraying the strap bolts now though ) . I liked it as it gave me the opportunity to put all new exhaust hardware and a new gasket on.
I had the same leak , but turned out it was trickling down from the engine side of the chain box from the chain box to cam tower seal. Sounds like if its just the cover seal you are golden. you might even just get away with dropping tin ware. i would try that first
Thanks again for the help, I'm going to go ahead and tackle it. I was thinking of pulling the Cat and replacing it with a strait pipe or premuffler. Do you think I'll need to do anything to the emissions system? I doubt that it's very efficient and might not care if the O2 sensor is gone. What system do you have on your 911?
Rob
Rob I have an early sc with no O2 sensor , when i bought the car the cat was already gone, it had been cut out and someone botched together a bypass.. a few years later i replaced it with a specific bypass for this application and it even had a bung for the O2 sensor, so if you can find one of those it would be perfect. It definitely added a low end rumble at idle that was very nice but not obnoxious at all.
During my last engine build for broken studs a few years ago I removed the entire exhaust system and added SSis with a single in/out bischoff exhaust from a 74 and i am very pleased with the results. The original heat exchangers were just rotting right off anyway.
Agree with Iceman that you should make 100% sure it's not the camtower to chain case seals (gasket plus o-ring) nor the chain case to engine block gasket.
If it's one of those, you are wasting your time with the chain box covers and will be pulling the chain boxes and retiming your cams, which I believe some folks have done with a partial drop, though I would never do it without a full drop.
Agree with Iceman that you should make 100% sure it's not the camtower to chain case seals (gasket plus o-ring) nor the chain case to engine block gasket.
If it's one of those, you are wasting your time with the chain box covers and will be pulling the chain boxes and retiming your cams, which I believe some folks have done with a partial drop, though I would never do it without a full drop.
i have seen it done with engine completely still in place... unfortunately my midichlorian count is no where near high enough to even try that.
Hi fellas: Today I started in on the CAT and exhaust removal. I hate rust. Cut the nuts off at the CAT manifold joint. Two of the six came out OK. The other four are not playing nicely. B'Laster and heat, and more heat, and a bigger hammer didn't provide the results I was hoping for. I left the shop after telling the bolts to cool off and think about what is best for them. I'll see them tomorrow! Sometimes threats work. The good news is that the CAT seems to be loose on the studs. I should be able to get it out of the way and push or drill out the bolts. I didn't want to wail away with the mini too hard in fear of breaking the manifold casting.
Life's an adventure!
Rob
That was my goal, they are rusted in place and will need to be drilled out. Going to replace the HE's, center pipe and bypass the CAT. Going to start cutting on the muffler-CAT bolts right now. Hope to salvage the muffler.
Fwiw this is what it looks like with the cover off and part of the gasket still stock on. Other parts fell apart in my hands so hoping this was a main cause of my leaks.
going back together tomorrow hopefully. I was able to get the tin out without lowering the engine with a bit of tweaking but no permanent bends in it.
I swapped out the oil pressure hose to the tensioner at the same time as it was sweating. You will need a new oring for it, if you haven’t ordered seals and parts yet.
Last edited by Black_on_black; 04-06-2023 at 06:34 PM.
Hey Ice: It's soaking now. Saved the muffler and next is the crossover pipe. Ran out of time today. B on B thanks for the pics. Saturday I'll be draining the oil and pulling the chain covers. This car had the upgraded tensioners installed in 2014. Even though that was only 3000 miles ago I'm surprised they are leaking. When I first looked at this job I thought the tin needed to come out from the top, I was thrilled to be able to pull it from the bottom. I didn't pull the side tins but it looks like it will be much easier to put it all back together if I pull them. Am I seeing this right?
Rob
I was able to take the rear tin out without the sides, however it’s not in yet…so I might need to take a side of tin for it to go back in as it kind of interlocked on the passenger side, it would not surprise me however if it was installed incorrectly as some of the mechanical work on the car is a little sloppy in places.
I have. 3.2, not aware of any upgraded tensioners? May be for the earlier cars?
03-11-2023, 07:17 PM
80 SC Cam chain cover gaskets
you have nothing sprayed on there . come on man ... 
