PAM, WD40 or ?? (carb gasket no-stick dressing)

[Wayne M.]

Got tired of Holley bowls and metering blocks welded to each other and to the main carb body. Went out and purchased the blue Holley "re-useable" gaskets. The counterman at the speed shop says to spray with WD40 before assembly to ensure easy removeable without damage.

Anyone agree, or have any better suggestions (ie. silicone based product ?). On the other hand, I don't want to have to warp-torque the bowl screws to prevent leaks.

TIA

[Craig S.]

Re: PAM, WD40 or ?? (carb gasket no-stick dressing

Wayne - I have used the Holley blue reusable gaskets many times, and have not used any sealant or lube. They have always come off easily, a minor nudge with a small rubber mallet easily popped the bowl loose with no problems, even several years down the road...Craig

[G B.]

I use PAM

Really. The lemon-scented kind. With PAM on them, you can use the prettier brown composition gaskets.

Also, you can detect any carb vacuum leaks by smelling lemon in the exhaust fumes.

[Clem Z.]

hey jerry they shut down the other board for this

kind of foolishness. straighten up,this board is for serious corvette guys like me!!!

[Clem Z.]

PS i used chapstick and it also comes in flavors. *NM*

[Duke W.]

Re: PAM, WD40 or ?? (carb gasket no-stick dressing

I've gotten into the habit of wiping gaskets and mating surfaces down with silicone spray, especially on my Cosworth Vega as gaskets are getting rarer and more expensive and I'm trying to make the most of my inventory of spares.

Since I pop the cam cover off fairly often for lash checks I now glue the gasket to the cover and wipe the bottom of the gasket and cam carrier mounting surface down with silicone spray lube. I can R&I the cover up to about six times before the gasket finally breaks and I've never had a used gasket leak as long as it was still in one piece.

Pam is vegetable oil-based so it does not have the high temperature chemical stability of silicone, and I expect silicone is also superior to WD-40 as a gasket preserver.

Duke

[Loren L.]

Duke, just when we get to the point

where we really appreciate your input and advice, you remind us that you have this Cosworth Vega fetish - I had a friend who did that, but even he checked out 15 years ago - on the Cosworth.

[Duke W.]

Re: Duke, just when we get to the point

I used the CV as an example because I did a lot of work on it in the last year. One needs a strong constitution to love CVs, but I've managed to do some very clever "under the covers" re-engineering, which has greatly improved its performance and reliability. It's done the equivalent of two LeMans worth of race track hot lapping in the last 20 years without ever breaking, and I've written a 250,000 word portfolio on CV history an technology including interviewing Chief Engineer Mike Hall (retired) of Cosworth Engineering on the early engine development period in England. Anything I can't fix I blame on John Hinckley since he was the responsible production engineer.

It's tough to walk away from that kind of sweat equity, and I really like the car. With it's tuned supension and DOT legal racing tires I would advise vintage Corvette owners NOT to attempt maintaining an equal pace on a twisty mountain road.

At the '87 Monterey Historics (parade laps) I got into a drag race with a C2 coming out of Turn 9 (now Turn 11) and we were dead even until he missed a shift. I was running in "track trim" with open exhaust. The grand stand crowd got a good show.

Duke

[bruce11495]

Re: Duke, Smell the Roses...errrr exhaust fumes

Duke have you been sniffing too much California air? Come on....You were neck and neck with a C2......Most hondas will beat a C2!!! The question is have you ever raced any REAL Corvettes...........LOL Just pulling your chain

[Duke W.]

Re: Duke, Smell the Roses...errrr exhaust fumes

You have to understand that in showroom stock trim, with all the crude emission equipment, including that horribly restrictive bead bed converter, a CV makes about 95 HP at the rear wheels and does 0-60 in 12 seconds. In track trim my CV makes over 160 RWHP with all OEM internal engine parts - not bad for a 122 CID engine. Of course, a '75 L-48 that was rated at 165 HP would only make about 140 RWHP. The CV can keep up with a 300 HP C2, but certainly not a SHP/FI C2 assuming the engine was in good working order.

Back in the sixties I got into a couple 60-130 races with FIs and my 340 HP was always dead even with them.

Duke