metal valve cover for 258

[sean]

Mine leaks like a seive. Yeah it's the plastic one. I know not all years had a plastic cover. Which years can I expect to find a metal one? How about robbing a little jeep or 4.0 head?

[Crazy_Jeepman]

Here these guys have what you need, to get rid of the plastic cover. smile.gif Valve Covers (http://www.jeepdoc.com/catalog/zproducts.asp?id=9)

[427CometGuy]

I run a Clifford aluminum on my CJ...love it! No leaks and cool wrinkle-black finish.

Dave

[Stuka]

i need to get one for my J10 once the weather gets good and I have money smile.gif

[scotty]

ive got the 4wd hrdware aluminum cover on mine. it looks kewl :cool: and hasnt leaked a drop since i put it on.

for a factory metal cover,youd have to swap the early(pre-81) or later(ummmm-87? and later) or the 4.0 head. none of the factory metal covers will bolt on in place of the plastic one without swapping the whole head.

the later head looks just like a 4.0,and in fact the 4.0 cover will interchange.1st time i saw one in an 87 wrangler i thot i was looking at a 4.0 with a carb! redface.gif

if youre gonna swap a head to get a metal valve cover,it only really makes sense to do it with an HO 4.0 head. might as well get some performance out of it to help justify the work involved ;)

[brielly]

Theres tons of aluminum covers on ebay anywhere from $20-$90 for new and used. Most require some drilling and tapping of your cylinder head but nothing too difficult. On my 83 the holes were already there so they only needed to be tapped.

[sean]

So, brielly. Your saying that there are an alternate set of holes with no threads? I'm not into drilling new holes in the head but I might tap em. Does anyone know how many bolt patterns might be available? Getting good used stuff is great but returning it to re-order negates the value and I could just buy new.

[Cory]

got mine from collinsbrosjeep.com

There's two bolt patterns I know of. What year block do you have? My 258 in my '82 didn't need anything done to it. Just pull off the plastic one, and bolt the Aluminum one up. Looks neat, but the "grooves" in the top of the head are sharp as the dickens! Just becareful around'em. They WILL cut you. tongue.gif :(

[brielly]

Read this http://www.sierrajeep.com/aluminum.htm Apparently you never know what you may find once you remove your plastic cover. I can only say what I found on my 83. Different years = different holes. You may have to contend with the studded rocker bridges as well.

[sean]

I'm glad I asked a few questions. Like I said downtime sucks and to disable the rig and then need to look for the right answers ahhrgh. At least I'll know what to look for and try to be prepared. Thanks.