Sealing on a fabricated square face 4

[Shawthing6927]

Good Morning,

I have a question regarding sealing on a fabricated square face.

The part is formed / fabricated from sheet metal (2mm). Do you think it is feasible to create the flatness & surface finish on the green face to achieve a seal using a flat face gasket? Can you control the forming process to achieve parallel and flat face on all 4 sides? This isn't machined so will have the standard finish of rolled sheet. The corners are linished / polished to create a flat surface from the weld.

Many Thanks

 

[DAVIDSTECKER]

Curing of RTV silicones can be altered in a couple of ways.
From what I was told the curing process uses hydrogen mainly out of the air.
To speed up the curing you can mist it with water. H2O
To slow the process spray it with mineral sprits.
If you apply the silicone and mist it you can create a "Skin" before you assemble the parts.
You can also apply something like wax as a bond breaker on the mating part.
If time allows, let the silicone set up for awhile after assembling before final tightening of the bolts.
It's something you'll need to experiment with.

 

[Tmoose]

OP's last login was on Friday, December 1, 2017.

I wonder what he has been trying.

 

[DAVIDSTECKER]

He has a nice formed outside channel that should be pretty stiff.
I was reminded of the old Chevy valve covers that long ago had bolts on the perimeter which most of us ended up putting shaped "Washers" under to help seal the cover.
Now they only have two bolts on the center line of the cover and a torque specification for the two bolts.
Neither one of my 350's has a leak from the valve covers even with more than 200,000+ miles on them.

 

[SwinnyGG]

The valve covers are also cast now, meaning they are a LOT stiffer than the old ones were/are.