Panhead Rocker Felt Pad - Glue?

[harleygreg]

Hi Guys - 48 Panhead covers - chromed

I have seen mention of 3M weathershield adhesive being used but there are few of these, it looks like the appropriate one would be 8008 - can anyone clarify or recommend another adhesive that has proven successful?

Thanks

Greg

[T. Cotten]

A couple of decades ago, Greg,

I actually called the MOCO and asked.

3M Industrial adhesive #800 was suggested, which I believe was the OEM case sealant at that time.
The original was a heavy tar-like adhesive, which I have also observed inside of '63-'65 tanks, and obviously fuel proof.

If your covers pinch the felt upon the rocker stud nuts, it might be redundant, and just another lit fuse: Beware also of modern felts that can deteriorate, particularly if fuel leaks past your petcock into the motor.

Another candidate would be Permatex's "The Right Stuff", but I would suggest any adhesive be used sparingly, as you never know what the next summer-blend P4gas will be like.

....Cotten

[BigLakeBob]

I went through this several years ago when trying to decide the same thing on a set of aluminum covers, I think the results would be the same on your chromed covers as long as they were scuffed and clean. For each test I used a piece of aluminum plate scuffed and then cleaned with acetone, then adhered a piece of felt per the instructions on each glue sample. After the recommended drying time for each adhesive, I then soaked the aluminum plate in a pan of 50 wt engine oil. I tried Devcon WeldIT All purpose Adhesive, 3M Yellow Super Weatherstrip and Gasket Adhesive #08002, Weldwood Original Contact Cement, and Original Gorilla Glue. The Gorilla Glue was the only one that could not be removed with a putty knife after my oil soaking. The other 3 were easily removed, the Gorilla Glue couldn't be scraped off. I also made a block with three steps on it to put even pressure throughout the entire cover with a weight on it throughout the drying process when actually putting the felt in the cover. A friend of mine just used a flat plate and a paint paddle for each step to insure even pressure during drying. Good luck.

[harleygreg]

Thanks Bob and Tom

The Gorilla glue spec is not above 100 degrees C so I'm not sure about that one. The '800' and 'right stuff' specs look fine but the virus is affecting deliveries now.

I also had feedback from the Henkel tech dept (Loctite) who recommended Loctite 5990, which I have in the shed so I'll try that tomorrow.

Note for Tom - On the sealant for the head nipples and the manifold flange/nuts, I used the recommended Loctite products; 648 and 5990 (respectively) and to seal the crankcases I used Loctite 5188. All have done the job as far as testing was concerned but I can't vouch for them for long and hard usage yet.

Thanks again

Greg

[T. Cotten]

You confuse me with "the manifold flange/nuts", Greg!

The flange takes a gasket, and quality modern gaskets have an impregnated sealer-adhesive, that adding anything else defeats.
(As JAMES told me...)

Nuts shouldn't need a sealer.
(A greasy lube is good though...)

Sorry I don't know all of the Loctite numbers, but I do know that if they taste like saccharin, P4gas can eat 'em.

....Cotten
PS: Original Gorilla Glue seems to work well to lock carb floats to the lever.

[harleygreg]

Sorry Tom, I meant 'intake nipple lock screw' and 'inlet packing bushing', actually the recommendation for the felt gasket was loctite 5980 which has better adhesive capability - see imageLoctite.jpg

Greg

[T. Cotten]

I would discourage any adhesive upon the nuts and 'packing bushings', Greg!

You may wish to take it apart some day.

And the horrible -52 lock screw design is to be avoided if you can.

....Cotten

[harleygreg]

Hi Tom

It’s ok, the inlet one is just a sealant, not an adhesive, it sets into a flexible rubbery like seal that peels off

Greg

[T. Cotten]

Hi Tom

It’s ok, the inlet one is just a sealant, not an adhesive, it sets into a flexible rubbery like seal that peels off

Greg

Why bother, Greg?

What's the point if you are going to break the seal with prudent re-torques?

Please remember the threads do not seal anything; The "packings" do.

If they need a goober, they are not doing their job, and it becomes a lit fuse if (when) the fuel eats the bandaid.

....Cotten
PS: When heavily goober'd assemblies came to me as failures, guess what I used to soak it off with. (Its half-priced now.)
PPS: Stay healthy, Everyone!