Oil has been leaking terribly from my driver's side valve cover. It looks like a previous owner put in a Fel Pro gasket and overtorqued the bolts, bending the heck out of the valve cover because the gasket is so thick.I'm going to replace it with cork and I already have the gaskets on hand. I could do my best to try and straighten it out but I'd rather put some pretty new ones on so I never have to deal with it again. Anybody know where I can get new ones that are sturdier? There was a sticker on it with the numbers 4483 310 if that helps. It's a 3.9.

I've checked Summit Racing, Amazon, Rock Auto, Parts Geek, eBay and Google. If there are any key words that might help my search that would help too!

 

Might have to settle for a boneyard. I replaced my valve cover gaskets on my 5.2L about a year ago. Used a Fel Pro gasket. No problems. I believe the torque specs are fairly light. I recall when pulling my covers off several of the bolts were loose and could be removed by hand. Probably explains why someone would torque the hell out of them.

 

A small tack hammer and a block of wood can be used to gently tap the cover back into shape. Just take your time. One, it saves you money. Two, you get the satisfaction of making a proper fitting part. I replaced the gaskets on my Dakota recently and had to tap them flat. Oil consumption dropped dramatically.

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I cleaned all the paint and gunk off of it with a polycarbide wheel and non-chlorinated brake cleaner, going to try heating it up a bit and gently hammering it flat today since I am willing to bet any junkyard one will likely have the same issue.

 

You can heat it up if you want, but you don't need to. If it's cast aluminum, it's cracked but sheet metal, which most are, will tap back into shape just fine without heat. I try to avoid heat as it changes metal composition and gas costs money.