Question on Valve cover bolts...

The bolts have a collar after the threads... What is the collar for??? and what if you ground the collar off to get just another half turn tighter...
I removed all the RTV that I put on and was reinstalling the valve covers with just a thin layer of shellac metal to metal... My leak spot was on the bottom of the cover and my thought was if I got the bottoms just a touch tighter,,, it might help with the leak problem...
Your thought welcome...
Thanks Russ

Good question, something I never considered looking at. Check the depth of the hole in the head. Maybe that's the reason for the collar.

There is plenty of depth,,, at least another 1/8th inch...

I wonder if a nylon washer would squeeze past the collar then slip on the grommet, that would give you some more tension without grinding off anything..

i agree with z man...

Just my humble opinion here, I have nothing to back it up with other than logic, I think the shoulder is there to distribute evenly the torque over the whole bolt head. Bearing in mind the head is Ally, it would stop the head from digging in.

It is my understanding the valve cover grows at a different rate than the head when hot and that is the reason for the length of the bolt and shoulder stop with the grommets on the ends. The bolts stay the same length, but the cover grows a bit into the rubber. I could be wrong.

I do know that when using OEM valve covers, gaskets and rubber grommets, it seals right up. The aftermarket valve covers tend to leak from the bottom no matter what. I pulled my chrome covers because of that.

IMHO; the shoulder is there to prevent over-torquing as a remedy for shrunk or deformed gaskets. I have both OEM and after-market chrome covers on my machines; both types seal well until the gasket deforms. At that point, you can buy new gaskets. Sometimes a thin coat of red RTV applied to old clean gaskets and sealing surfaces will work for a couple of years.

[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=180875#p180875:f1qycbg0 said:

PurpleGL1200I » Yesterday, 8:29 pm[/url]":f1qycbg0]
IMHO; the shoulder is there to prevent over-torquing as a remedy for shrunk or deformed gaskets. I have both OEM and after-market chrome covers on my machines; both types seal well until the gasket deforms. At that point, you can buy new gaskets. Sometimes a thin coat of red RTV applied to old clean gaskets and sealing surfaces will work for a couple of years.

Click to expand...

+1 :good:

[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=180875#p180875:1ukg9aq2 said:

PurpleGL1200I » Mon Sep 19, 2016 11:29 am[/url]":1ukg9aq2]
IMHO; the shoulder is there to prevent over-torquing as a remedy for shrunk or deformed gaskets. I have both OEM and after-market chrome covers on my machines; both types seal well until the gasket deforms. At that point, you can buy new gaskets. Sometimes a thin coat of red RTV applied to old clean gaskets and sealing surfaces will work for a couple of years.

Click to expand...

+1
Subaru uses a similar setup with rubber bonded sealing washers

The shoulder is there so you don't over torque and accidentally crush the valve covers. When those bolts are tightened up they shoulder against the cylinder head instead of the head of the bolt shouldering against the valve cover itself. All the rubber bits are compressed enough to prevent leaks. If you are still leaking after proper torque just buy a set of new gaskets for your valve covers, they are cheap and readily available. Plus those bolts are crazy expensive and I dont think grinding anything is a good idea.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-HONDA-GL1200 ... YQ&vxp=mtr

Well,,, Got it all sealed up... First I got the edges flat and smooth... then an application of shellac and set the gasket in place... pressed the valve cover in place and using new bolt seals,,, I set each bolt in place and tightened them down using the x method... let dry overnight... NO Leaks...

good deal...