Picked up these valve covers at the swapmeet...heavy sand castings...no names or marks on the inside...the center to center on the hold down bolts is 11 5/8" the bosses under the hold down bolts are slightly angled which means that the part of the head where the bolt goes is not straight down..probably angled downward towards the lower part of the head. The gasket area is 19 1/2" long by 4 5/8" wide...does anyone have an early Cad or Lincoln Y block they can measure to make sure? Thanks!
Looks like Chevy Vortec using only the end bolts. The gasket measurements are right, but I don't have a set handy to measure the center bolts.
They are not early Cad as they measure up at 13 7/8" bolt centres and 5"x 20 1/2" gasket area. Plus the hold down bolts straight into the heads. Hope this Helps.
how about some 6 bolt Studebakers? They could be early Olds also. That is what these were originally mounted on but they fit Studes if you drill the four other holes. The four in a row are the Studes. The two higher up are dummies and were used on the early Olds. This is a 4 bolt 58 engine. The Lark era engines were 2 bolt. These show up in a 52 Wieand catalog.
They aren't Lincoln y-block rough measurements are 14 inches between bolt centers and 5x20 gasket surface
These valve covers are probably 50+ years old..they just had a recent polish job...so not Chevy vortec in any way...there was a thread on here from 5-7 years ago with exact same covers that were never identified...hope these are...
Measured 2 different brands of Olds Rocket covers at 10-5/16" on centers. I did not think they were Olds because yours appear to have 4 matching curves on the gasket corners...On Olds covers, the top corner curve would not match the bottom curve.
If nobody can, try to find a piceture of one. Look at Tommy's pic of the 4 bolt ones that were also designed for Olds...they have those unmatching curves on upper vs. lower corners. Yours look like all 4 corners have matching curves? I am thinking the 2 bolt Stude might have unmatching corners as well? Would an overall width/length of the late 49 Cad help? I have those at the shop, but they are the perimeter bolt style.
The 2 widest bolts are 13 5/8" CC. Since they hold the rocker shaft, they should be the same for the 2 bolt later VCs that just eliminated the center two bolts.
I was told by the guy I got them from that they were Nailhead..and the nailhead specs are close..but no cigar. He also had one that was in original condition that looked REALLY OLD...like 50s made or very early 60s. If someone can measure a 215 that might be good...
The Jalopy Journal
