dowty
What is it with classic cars and Felt... everything is sealed with friggin felt... what a silly idea it is!!!
Anyway.. the three bolts that hold the rocker cover down are suposed to have a felt "washer" to stop oil escaping all over the engine
bay...... Alas mine are missing...
Where can I find some suitable felt (or rubber replacement) washers to do the job? Can I bodge a seal out of something I might already have in the
garage?..... Im stuck for ideas on this one,.... (it doesnt help that the rocker cover is distorted so the sealing surfaces are not as flat as they
should be!
I would think fiber washers would do the job. Loads on ebay.
normal steel washer with a bit of instant gasket perhaps? or fibre washers can be had from halfords if you need them now, piece of felt from your mums sewing box?
cork?
you should be able to get an appropriately sized dowty washer or o ring if not.
tom
Fibre washers wont have the same properties as the felt they will be too hard and fail to soak up any leakage from the rocker top. If anything look
for something made from soft rubber , neoprene, latex that kind of thing (keep away from the Anne Summers catalogue though). if in doubt ensur the
surface is clean and oil free and also apply a bit of silicone or gasket sealant.
My little a35 has felt washers theyre not 100% effective. You can buy felt from art shops if you want to keep it authentic
The modern equivalent of the felt washer is a dowty washer. Effectively a steel washer with a rubber seal bonded to the ID. You tighten normally until
the steel part is under compression at which point the rubber seal is sufficiently compressed to seal the joint.
dowty
If it wasn't for this statement;
quote:
the rocker cover is distorted so the sealing surfaces are not as flat
I have some jointing felt at work if you're stuck but I'm off work for another week. I'll post you some if you're not sorted by then.
can get various size felt circles in Homebase - meant as protectors under things to stop them scratching tabletops. I should think you could bodge something up from them
quote:
Originally posted by JAG
If it wasn't for this statement;
quote:
the rocker cover is distorted so the sealing surfaces are not as flat
Then I would have recommended a Dowty washer but I don't think they will work if the surface isn't FLAT.
Soft rubber or felt as per the original design would be what I would use.
Let me know if you really want felt washers - I found a source recently.
Unfortunately the details are at home, so I can't give you details until tonight.
Would Copper washers not do the job?
Deformable to take up the non flat surfaces (within reason) and an impermeable material to seal properly.
Felt is available at haberdashery shops and you can get all sorts of colours. You could buy a sheet and make a punch or there are engineering felts available here.
The trouble with the stuff from haberdashery shops is that it's 95% or 100% synthetic, and just doesn't behave like wool felt.
That engineering felt place looks like a good link to keep.
IIRC the Truimph engines used fibre washers as the rocker cover stud seal. Over tightening will cause distortion but a few minutes with a hammer you should be able to dress the cover back to shape. It may be worth considering making up some spacers to go over the suds before fitting to rocker cover ? That way you will be able to tighten the nuts without distorting the cover and be able to use dowty washers