While doing my valve springs, etc., I came up with this super simple solution for the age-old problem of how to keep the gaskets from falling out while installing covers. It also helps to keep the gaskets from twisting, so the edges make proper contact.

In the case of the 4.7L, the valve cover gaskets will fall right out when the valve cover is inverted, save for one end which has some rubber tabs on the gasket, which help to to keep just that end in place. This is the case with most vehicles and this should work with any vehicle. I searched the internet high and low and no one had a solution that didn't involve the use of glue or gasket maker/RTV. Well, that can make a mess of things and you still have to be careful of it falling out even with the RTV in place.

Most people will tell you to install the gaskets dry, with dabs of gasket maker every six inches or so to keep it in the groove. Well, I like to grease mine up with dielectric grease applied with a toothbrush in the valve cover groove and also on the gasket + head surface. I do this so the gasket can slide and conform to the surface and not get twisted as you slide it into place. Just makes for a better seal, far as I'm concerned. Also, dielectric(synthetic) grease is a conditioner for rubber, and is the last thing that touches the gasket before it seals. I'd like to think that down the line, it delays the gasket from hardening. Lastly, the grease helps the rubber bands slide out easily.

Anyway...this is how I did it. Note that the rubber bands stay on the perimeter and do not cross the open area of the valve cover, so it won't snag or get caught on anything (such as your cams, valve springs etc). You can basically throw the valve cover around and the gaskets will stay in place till you drop the cover in place. Once you have the cover down on the surface, you can simply release the rubber bands and use a pick tool or small screwdriver to undo the loops and pull them out from the side. If you have long enough rubber bands, you don't even need loops, just stretch them from end to end.

Note that this method works best with all the bolts removed but you can place the rubber bands on the outside of the bolt, maybe. I was putting new gaskets on the bolts anyway, so they were all out.

Hopefully this helps someone.

 

In my experience the Felpro gaskets fit so perfect they naturally hold themselves into the cover well enough to get it in place even when it's upside down.
However, still have to be careful. It's never a bad idea to go the extra mile and be sure it doesn't move at all.
​​​​​​I like it!
👍👍

 

These are Felpro. Sometimes you get lucky and they won't fall, depending on the design, but not for the 4.7L.

 

That's technically an O-ring, not a gasket.

O-rings are great for topside surfaces. The engineer that designed for O-ring to be used for the bottom side must have had some enemies on the service floor/assembly line.

White lithium Grease (the kind in a can, not a bottle) is a great low-adhesive compound to holding O-rings in place, and it withstands heat reasonably well. We use it for assembly anywhere there's an O-ring and sometimes even gaskets - the viscosity is low enough that it easily pushed out under compression of tightening bolt on a flange.

Next time you are around a racecar engine, notice how many mating surfaces are O-ringed with either silicone or steel wire rings. There's a reason for that. Here's an A-Fuel 100% nitro/non-supercharged HEMI driven by Spencer Massey in Top Alcohol Dragster. Makes 4-5,000 HP. No gaskets anywhere except for between the cylinder head and block, and there is an O-ring and receiver groove that locks the gasket to the cylinder bore.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4sigAT3fsJBkgkfk6



https://photos.app.goo.gl/WU91txH8D5cVvBtE8



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EDIT: Here's what the bottom of a cylinder head looks like, from our car. That steel O-ring crushes the copper head gasket, and pushes it into the receiver groove machined into the cylinder sleeve that you can see on Spencer's car above.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ivCoWCiMCqPF9PGw8

 

On older engines with the valve cover bolts going through holes in both the gasket and valve cover, I hold them in place with fishing line or sewing thread. tie them in place and once the cover is set in place, cut the thread and replace it with the bolt one at a time.

I had one friend who is still working in auto repair watch me put the intake and gasket on a 3.9. He marveled at how I took one of the bolts and got some all thread rod to match. Then I made 4 studs to go into the block in place of the intake bolts. The intake will slide straight down and ot wiggle around. Put bolts in all the empty holes then replace the studs with bolts and torque everything down.

 

Exact same thing I did for mine! Why anyone would do it differently is beyond me. Hardware store, Grade 2 or Grade 5 3" x 5/16 bolts, and 3 minutes with a hacksaw. Or in my case, I found a set of 2.5" 5/16 carburetor studs in our bolt bin.