People, hindsight is 20/20, like realizing all too late that I should not have leant someone my SD card for my camera – makes it very difficult to take pictures of car repair work. Also, as fun as it may seem at the time, beer and oil changes do not mix. It’s like mixing oil and water, or oil and beer.
I’ve been waiting a while to change out my oil and valve cover gasket, but busy weekends and a lack of torque wrenches kept getting in the way. Finally, after picking up all my supplies at the local O’Reilly Auto Parts, I took care of a little Falcon business. What I may lack in pictures of the experience, I can make up for with advice.
First, towels. Lots and lots of towels, for all the grease and oil and general crap that’s going to get all over your hands and arms. The gasket that I was replacing was probably 40-50 years old, and the cork material was so stuck to the valve cover that I had to dig/scrape it off with a flathead screw driver.
Second, this was so much easier to do than it looked. The valve cover has approximately eight bolts that need to be removed, all within easy reach without removing the intake cover, and it’s light enough to maneuver easily when reinstalling. Honestly, the hardest part was digging out the old gasket.
Next time, considering the condition of the old cork gasket, I’ll definitely be picking up the silicone gasket instead, but for the first service I’ve done to this car, I’m impressed. Easier to work on than my new Volkswagen, that’s for sure.
My First Falcon 