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4.2L 258 metal valve cover


eaglescout526
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13 minutes ago, watchamakalit said:

I purchased the one in my cj from 4wd hardware years ago. Quality was top notch back then. Sorry I'm not much help beyond that. 

That I believe. Those new ones are mighty expensive and am looking to stay mostly OEM. 

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Just to clarify, this is the 81+ valve cover that he needs. 1980 and earlier had a stamped steel one, but that does not fit the 81-90 cylinder heads. 

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10 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

The 87-90 4.2 aluminum valve cover uses the same gasket as the 4.0 of the same years. The bolt pattern is way different and I don't think it will bolt up. 

So it needs to be for an 81-87 engine?

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11 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

The 87-90 4.2 aluminum valve cover uses the same gasket as the 4.0 of the same years. The bolt pattern is way different and I don't think it will bolt up. 

Wait. We’re saying that Chrysler changed the head for the 87-90 YJ specifically? 

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3 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Wait. We’re saying that Chrysler changed the head for the 87-90 YJ specifically? 

Must be that and the 87-88 Eagle. I know those had the aluminum cover too. 

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2 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Wait. We’re saying that Chrysler changed the head for the 87-90 YJ specifically? 

Yes I think they did. According to the the parts diagrams from moparpartsgiant.com early 87 wranglers had the plastic cover and late 87-90 had the aluminum one and there are 2 different gaskets. One with a straight side for the plastic one and one with lots of curves for the aluminum one.

4 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

So it needs to be for an 81-87 engine?

Yes, as far as I know the only factory option was plastic. The aftermarket aluminum ones are the only option to get an aluminum valve cover for them. In order to fit them you need to drill and tap a few holes in the head to get it to bolt on. And one of them is over a water jacket that is really easy to drill into. But some Teflon tape fixes that issue. (happened on my dad's engine)

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7 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

Yes I think they did. According to the the parts diagrams from moparpartsgiant.com early 87 wranglers had the plastic cover and late 87-90 had the aluminum one and there are 2 different gaskets. One with a straight side for the plastic one and one with lots of curves for the aluminum one.

Yes, as far as I know the only factory option was plastic. The aftermarket aluminum ones are the only option to get an aluminum valve cover for them. In order to fit them you need to drill and tap a few holes in the head to get it to bolt on. And one of them is over a water jacket that is really easy to drill into. But some Teflon tape fixes that issue. (happened on my dad's engine)

I just confirmed with a couple other Eagle guys I know and the bolt pattern did change. Interesting that you needed to drill holes, the ones in my engine were drilled, but not yet tapped. 

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1 minute ago, 89 MJ said:

Interesting that you needed to drill holes, the ones in my engine were drilled, but not yet tapped.

I think they were there but not deep enough to use a tap so my dad drilled them deeper and found the water jacket.

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3 minutes ago, Eagle_SX4 said:

I think they were there but not deep enough to use a tap so my dad drilled them deeper and found the water jacket.

Interesting. One of the other Eagle guys just told me the same thing. Must just be the taps that my dad has that let me get away with it. 

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I also hit water jacket on mine 30yrs ago when dad and if put mine in the cj. I freaked out when it happened. Dad calm and collected, says its ok we'll just wrap it in teflon tape. Never had a problem since. 

 

Funny how time works. I had forgotten about having to drill and tap holes. 

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