Has anyone else realized this lately? Fel-Pro's seal quality dropping?
Cylinder Head Gasket Sets (upper engine)-
Quality concerns:
-valve cover gaskets stretched or too long, difficult to install
-exhaust manifold gaskets used to be MLS like the factory gaskets, they moved to composite a while back
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
-I'm realizing the rubber bolt grommets for the camshaft covers are WAY too soft. The hardness of the rubber determines the clamping pressure on the valve cover (cam cover) gaskets. I'm talking about 93-99 Northstars-
I will be calling Federal Mogul with my complaints. This, to me, is unacceptable. The old GM grommets are a better rubber compound than new FelPro?
I will be trying GM's Grommets from the dealer and if the rubber compound still seems too soft, it's back to R&D to find a better solution. If I have to I'll be contracting someone to make grommets out of harder rubber.
Has anyone else noticed this? You'd think a company like Federal Mogul could do better than this. They made some of the OEM gaskets for General Motors and I'm sure GM would not have tolerated this.
The bolts themselves have torque limiters in them more/less- but if the grommets flatten out tightening to factory torque specs, something's very wrong.
(Sub, got your PM a while back, haven't responded. Still have them if you want one, please send me an email - info@northstarperformance.com)
Cylinder Head Gasket Sets (upper engine)-
Quality concerns:
-valve cover gaskets stretched or too long, difficult to install
-exhaust manifold gaskets used to be MLS like the factory gaskets, they moved to composite a while back
MOST IMPORTANTLY:
-I'm realizing the rubber bolt grommets for the camshaft covers are WAY too soft. The hardness of the rubber determines the clamping pressure on the valve cover (cam cover) gaskets. I'm talking about 93-99 Northstars-
I will be calling Federal Mogul with my complaints. This, to me, is unacceptable. The old GM grommets are a better rubber compound than new FelPro?
I will be trying GM's Grommets from the dealer and if the rubber compound still seems too soft, it's back to R&D to find a better solution. If I have to I'll be contracting someone to make grommets out of harder rubber.
Has anyone else noticed this? You'd think a company like Federal Mogul could do better than this. They made some of the OEM gaskets for General Motors and I'm sure GM would not have tolerated this.
The bolts themselves have torque limiters in them more/less- but if the grommets flatten out tightening to factory torque specs, something's very wrong.
(Sub, got your PM a while back, haven't responded. Still have them if you want one, please send me an email - info@northstarperformance.com)