Hey all,

I'm going to get my valve cover powdercoated within the next few weeks. Since I need to order some parts from my Honda dealer anyways, do I need to replace the valve cover gasket and all the other little gaskets as well, or can I just reuse them?

Which pieces should I replace?

Thanks for the help.

 

I would replace all of the gaskets if it was me. They don't cost much and will just give you a little more peace of mind.

I Painted the vavle covoer on my old civic and replaced all the gaskets at the same time so had no problems.

Not sure if you NEED to do it though.

 

If your car is less than 1 year old your probably ok. If older I would say stay on the safe side and replace it.

 

Of all my Hondas and Acuras, I never needed to replace the gasket, just make sure it is in good shape when you remove it from the valve cover and clean it. While istalling it back in the fresh valve cover, run a "oil soaked finger" over it so it will seat well. Torque in the right order and you should have little problem.
If your car is ilder wil more miles, the gasket may stick to the valve cover and could tear. If this happens, yes, replace it. Good luck and happy "beutifying".

 

just be careful when you're taking the valve cover of, if you do it too fast the gasket could rip.

 

I painted the valve cover on a few CRXs before. I replaced the gaskets because they were old. So a few weeks later, I have to remove one of the covers because it got scratched. Now I remember that these are new gaskets already so I re-use them. A few days later my spark plug tubes filled up with oil. Turns out that the heat forms the gaskets and once removed they will never go back to the original shape.

Save yourself some time and replace them the first time, whether they are 1 day or 10 years old. whats a few bucks for peace of mind?