[marlonbarksdale]

I am replacing my valve cover with an aluminum one and it doesn't come with spacers. One of my spacers bolt came out and the rest are in my old valve cover and i dont know how to remove them so i can reuse them. Any tips ?

[X_Drive]

if you are talking about the round recessed dowels at the corner of the cyl. head, then yes, they are reusable. They really are not supposed to be taken out unless you have deformed them. If the one that came out is still true (round) then you can re-centre it where it use to live and tap it back in with a wooden handle of a hammer or some other soft material that is stout enough to gently drive her back home.

[marlonbarksdale]

Someone told me that the aluminum valve cover bolts dont need the spacers except the 2 in the center on the passenger side.. is this true? Or do I have to reuse my old bolts and spacers for all of the bolts

[X_Drive]

If you have the plastic vc, then the spacers are collars that center on those dowels and prevent the plastic cover from being crushed/ cracked. These are required. Here the bolts attached to the cover can be reused.

If you have the magnesium vc, then you will be required to replace all the aluminum bolts, which should have all spacers included. If you try and reuse them, they will eventually sheer off, making you do the job again.

All the dowels are for is to centre the vc during installation.

Hth

[marlonbarksdale]

I dont have the magnesium cover i bought an aluminum one from amazon that just came with bolts no spacers

[X_Drive]

Originally Posted by marlonbarksdale

I dont have the magnesium cover i bought an aluminum one from amazon that just came with bolts no spacers

Ah, got it!
I am assuming that all the bolts will be reused. I am not too familiar with the aluminum vc, however if the middle bolt holes are raised you may not need to use the 2 middle bolt spacers. I looked at the pic of one doing a google search and it seems that the use of a spacer is not required as the vc most like is milled to accept the dowels for centering. ☺️

[gaze2]

Like the X_Drive said, the little dowel/nipple at the corner of you head is to ease the process of putting the valve cover gasket and cover itself, as it holds and centers the gasket. There should be one on the other corner of the head as well.
As for spacers, only the middle center bolts need spacers (atleast on my magnesium cover it was like that), if you have a plastic cover originally you can reuse the hardware as it is not aluminum.