Valve Cover Gasket Specs
I was doing some research into valve cover gasket material today. It was something that started some 11 years ago after a discussion with Charles Turner, who at the time sent me an NOS valve cover gasket for a 289 that was cork with a black coating on it. Shortly afterward an engineer with Ford found for me a copy of the original blueprints for the 289/302 valve cover gaskets. The information on the prints supported the discussion of the gaskets being coated with a black rubberized coating.
Fast forward to today, I started looking to see if the 170, 200 gaskets also would have had a similar coating on them. I asked another engineer if he could look at the blueprints for the 6 cyl. but he wasn't able to locate them. He did find some similar information on valve cover gasket blueprints for other engines. I'll highlight some of the information that was found on the various blueprints.
I agreed that in obtaining copies of the blueprints that I would not, ever, copy or re-distribute them in any way or allow anyone else to do so. You are, however, welcome to come to my office to look at them.
C2OE-6584-A / C6OE-6584-A & C / C9OE-6584-A (all on the C2OE-6584-A blueprint)
221, 260, 289
9-3-60 The original date on the blueprint appears to be 9/3/60 with a release date as the C2OE-6584-A as 3/30/61.
9-3-63 the neoprene coating was revised from M2069 neoprene to M2069-A neoprene.
Throughout, the material is listed as ?cork and rubber .155-.185 thick after coating. Neoprene coating ESA M2069-A (the "-A" added after 9-3-63) .001-.005 thick per side. (The .005 number is a guess as it is difficult to read). This changed with the C9OE part.
C6OE-6584-A was the relocation of the lower locating tabs to fit the 1966 style valve covers.
I cannot get a good read on the blueprint but it first appears as a note:
(can't read date) E ADDED NOTE xxx
MFG REQ SUPPLIED TO MFG ON 10-29-64
RELEASED ADV INFO ON E-707-85
DATED 11-23-64
C6OE-6584-A WAS C6OExxxxxxx (can't read the rest)
2-11-65 RELEASED
I decipher this as possibly "Manufacturing requirements supplied to manufacturer on 10-29-64. Released advance information on E-707-85 dated 11-23-64". I would guess this is notification that the new specs were sent to the manufacturer to use to build new dies for the gasket with the revised tab positions. So somewhere between 10-29-64 and 2-11-65 was the lead time for the gasket to fit the new valve cover which would be needed prior to the start of 66 model production in August and the engines earlier than that.
4-9-65 (65 is clear but the 4-9 is a rough guess as the text is tough to decipher). Change was the additional part number C6OE-6584-C as an optional construction. The print shows the tabs with sharp edges and the optional construction C6OE-C has rounded edge tabs with what appears to be a .05 radius.
C9OE-6584-A appears to be the C6OE-6584-A with a change in the material listed as ESE-M86127-A cork & rubber .156+-.010 thick. There is also a note that the manufacturer should place their ID on the edge of the gasket just outside of one of the upper tabs.
C7AE-6584-D
C7AZ-6584-A r/b D0AZ-6584-C for 65-71 352, 390, 427, 428.
6-13-67 Material: ESE-M8G19-A cork composition gasket
Material: .225-.255 thick after coating
ESA M2D69-A neoprene coating .001-.005 thick per side
Coat with ESE-M6J89-A aluminum coating after neoprene coating
C9AE-6584-A
C9AZ-6584-A Boss 429
11-29-68 Material: ESE-MBG106-A asbestos and rubber binder 0.43-0.51 thick
C0DZ-6584-B, C0DZ-6584-C, D0DZ-6584-A
170/200
We have a 65 coupe with 1700 miles in the collection. The valve cover gasket is still original and it has the neoprene coating.
Image sources:
The 289 images are from Mike Murray's cars. The 200 image is from the NPD Collection's 1700 mile 65 coupe.
