[Bob Carriere]

Hi Phil

I am concerned about having the valve cover effectively seal any possible oil leaking. My 261 valve cover seals up very well but does not look the part.

I found a valve cover on a spare cab 12 that has the proepr opening for the oil filler extension at the front and the small oil bath air breather for the middle of the valve cover. It will need some sandblasting and straigthening the edge.

I opened two spare engine gasket sets and both 235/261 cork valve cover gasket are almost a fit. I say almost because the new gaskets are about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch too narrow...... and this measured near the end so that cover flex would not be an issue. Yes the bolt holes cold be filled with "silly-cone" but still very narrow at the contact point.

so I bought a 36 x 18 roll of 1/8 rubberized cork material..... and plan to cut my own so I can make it a tad wider...... I pan to degrease the engine head area and glue the cork to the head...... with nothing on the cover side to facilitate easy removal for any unforeseen adjustments. ne thing I am wondering about...... the value of laminating two 1/8 thicknesses of cork with a oil/gas proof glue (claim to stay soft) for extra material to compress.

Meanwhile I spent some frustrating hours using a new ...made in China.... brake line bender with very poor results. The previous chinese made bender worked reliably for over 5 or 6 years bending steel and SS and steel 3/8 lines for the PCV...... well we had a very kinky afternoon. It seems that the new lines with a black poly covering are the worst for kinking..... on close examination the new tube bender from PA seems to be out of alignment and they replaced it free when I took in the broken one.....may go back to the store and open every box to see if there is a better one.... so much for ISO quality.

Hoping the little bunny is kind to you tomorrow...... we have family coming over for Easter..... or at least what's left of the family..... my Mom's youngest sister past away two months ago and her older son (56) died of cancer 2 months later to the day.... this is the first gathering with out them.

Will try to corner the market on the old fashion bares steel lines and plan on ordering a new ...hopefully better... tube bender from Eastwood.

Rob has decided to finish the welding of the roof on his HUP..... the whole back portion was replaced and now it needs to be joined to the existing front sheet metal...... fortunately the joint is over one of the roof stiffening rib which provides a convenient backing. It is a labour of love to say the least.... it is stich...stich...stich.... fill in were required...grind....grind..... fill in again....grind again.... and for the whole width of the roof.

Rob may earn is welding ticket by the time he is finished.

Bob