So I pulled the cover to replace my lifters and valve stem seals. In the process of cleaning the cover, a small chunk of aluminum fell off! This is at the exhaust cam side. No clue how this happened, but it did.

At first, I thought FML and the color ran from my face thinking I had to scramble to get another one so I can finish the project this weekend.

Then I was wondering if I'd be able to JB Weld it back in place. I decided against it since the mating area is so small, I might not get enough JB in there to hold it in. Another concern is that if I don't attach it exactly as it should, it'll be scraping the cam in no time and filling the engine with shaved bits of various metals.

Then after showing it to a buddy and discussing options, I thought about it some more; it may not be too bad since it's in the upper corner of the engine and most - if not all - of it will be covered by the cam seal. So if it does leak oil, it wouldn't be a whole lot. If it does, then I'd need to get another one anyway. It doesn't seem like the new cam seal would be able to hold any pressure, like the oil cap gasket, unless it's compressed and seals-up tight when everything goes back together.

So my question to you (yes, you!) is do I go ahead and use it or source a replacement ASAP?

 

run with what you got is my vote...

 

Its behind the seal so it should be fine until you find a replacement, We just ran into this same problem with Robs car, except the cracks were in the head instead of the cover..

Needless to say he has a heavy foot, boosting 15 psi on a 18T and no leaks yet