[TR] TR3A New Alloy Valve Cover

[terryrs at comcast.net]

As posted previously, am leaking oil.  For the first time, I pulled the valve cover I purchased off E-Bay several years ago, cleaned it, and put it over a flashlight on a flat surface.  Hmmm...imagine my surprise.

What I saw was lots of light under the two ends.  Am guessing that it came with a history of DPOs cranking down on the two nuts that hold it on, which combined with heat from the engine caused it to warp upwards on each end.  Means while I've been torquing to specs, I have really only been tightening the center section and leaving an oil weeping gap at front and back even with Justin's silicone gasket.  Given the oil wetness behind it, I have to think that.

Okay.  Tried to pound the warping out.  Frankly I'm not good enough to be able to do it.  So I took it to my really pretty good machine shop.  They told me they couldn't set it up.  They sent me to a 70 year old machinist in town reputed to be the best in the state.  Except he works about two hours a day and was never in when I stopped by.e

Okay okay.  I bit the bullet, called TRF, and got an alloy valve cover.  It came today.  Expensive, but looks alone are worth every penny and will add immeasurably to the look of the engine bay, albeit I don't care since I typically drive it with the hood down.  

But this new alloy cover also came without a tube to put on the stock breather cap.  

Now I'm sure that the beautiful oil cap that came with it "breathes," but does anyone have an opinion (wait...of course you do...this is the LIST!) about whether it breathes enough to equalize pressure from the rocker arm area?  My old breather cap left the cover pretty cruddy from blow-by over a period of time...

Thank you everyone.

Terry Smith, '590 TR3A
New Hampshire