I put arp studs in last week with a head gasket and they seem to hit the valve covers. I thought at first it was just the ridge inside the cover but they are holding the cover up just a little. Has anyone else had this problem. I'm getting a slight oil leak from the drivers side of the covers. I considered grinding the studs off but then it would be a pain to get them out without the allen hole. Does cummins make a thicker valve cover gasket for the cummins. I've tried a light silicone coating on the bottom of the gaskets but that didn't help either! Thanks,Gary

 

Who sold you the studs?

Don~

 

They come from the machine shop I always use and he gets direct from arp. He took .013 off of the head when it was redone. The studs stick above the nuts maybe the depth of the allen hole in the top. I took one loose and the stud wasn't tight in the block but was within a 1/8 to bottomed out. I think they hold the cover enough the gasket hits on the head but doesn't get any mash on it. They show just a polished circle on the valve cover after a weeks running. I'm thinking about getting another set of gaskets and siliconing them to another set of covers and not letting them set all the way down in grooves.

 

You can remove then 1 by 1 and turn them down. I have had to do that twice.

 

I put mine into today. I just ground my valve covers down with a die grinder. Worked perfect.

 

I don't think they are going to turn down enough to help. I did try to turn the front one and it was so close to bottom it didn't matter.

 

grind them is what you have to do. you must take them off grind all you can off with the die grinder like Jambbii said or use a reaming tool. be sure to completely clean them afterwards with diesel or something so you don't get any shaving in the oil in the head.

 

gwhammy, there are two "ribs" or supports in the valve covers. This is where the studs hit. It took me less than 5 minutes to grind them down.

 

I've got the studs centered between the ribs and the cover still hits. I'm going to pull them off tomorrow and maybe just swell the cover where they hit. Gotta do something, that rotella burning sure does stink.