I'm surprised nobody has thought of this. Basically, you'd have a standard aluminum valve cover with a large plexiglass window covering the whole top of it. You'd be able to watch sludge build up, watch the rockers do their thing, ensure pushrods are rotating, compare sludge buildup from various oils, and other things. Another thing I thought of sitting on the toilet this morning.

Thoughts?

 

ive thought of this before... i dunno how well they would stand the heat...

i saw a clear oilpan once on an engine selling an oil...

Matt

 

they make clear diff covers. so i would think its possible. i would think the valve cover would have to be entirly made of the clear stuff though

 

I have seen clear diff covers so in theory clear valve covers could be done. Not sure about the heat though.

 

Rusty! That's an awesome idea! I'll take one for my Focus!

-Matt

 

I believe there are valve covers you can (or could) buy where the top could be removed. This type of VC worked great for those with adjustable rockers...these people could adjust thier rockers an not worry about oil splattering everywhere.

 

it is an idea worth checking out though... an easy way to keep on eye on some of the more unpredictable parts of the motor. i'll take a set for my 390 and my I6...

 

wouldn't use plexi, use polycarbonate instead. It's a b*tch to thermoform because it contains water, meaning that when you heat it up the moisture works it's way to the surface and forms little bubbles all over until you can no longer see through it.



If you don't thermoform it and just have a small, flat, window, make it thick enough that it could deal with the heat, maybe 1/2''... not cheap stuff either and usually comes in 48" x 48" sheets. Check out www.mcmaster.com

 

Or you could probably make them out of the stuff they make nalagene bottles out of. the Lexan plastic that stuff can take a beating. I used my Nalagene bottle to drive stakes into the ground b/c of a storm coming in down at the Boy Scout National Jamboree in Virginia. Left a big dent but didn't break it.

Just an idea.

 

Lexan is just GE's trade name for polycarbonate. So yeah, you're right. I just know, from experiance, that polycarbonate will start to bubble at or above 300F.

 

They used to make clear valve covers. I forget the company name, and I haven't seen them in probably five years, but they're out there.

 

Pro, PSE used to make them..rather they still do or not I dont know..But yes as you said clear rocker cover's has been there and done that!! LOL..who the hell would want clear cover's anyway? to look at Ugly Oil Flying around!! after they got covered with Oil on the inside you couldnt see ***** anyway..sounds Dumb to me..But what do I know?? LOL... Oh well what ever fires your Rocket I guess!! LOL..

Russ

 

yeah, i agree with you on that on 'Rapids', when you start up your rig, the oil will just go flying all over the valve covers.
unless there was some sort of finish you could put on the insinde so the oil could just spread away juts like when you get water ontop of oil. maybe theres some kind of finish like a wax, but that wouldnt bee too good on the rockers!
im just throwing ideas from my head to my fingers into the keyboard, so dont laugh!

 

The hottest you're heads should ever be is ~210*f... So the 300 degrees shouldn't be an issue. As for the oil splattering on them, just make a deflector that doesn't interupt the sight line.

 

Shoot, I ran my 390 without the valve covers a while back. That's part of where this idea came from. It took about 30 seconds for oil to spill over and off the head. It may be different on FE's, but oil wasn't flying everywhere. It was squishing out all around the rockers and flowing in a neat spiral pattern down the pushrods, but not flying anywhere.