How taut valve cover gasket Ford 641?

[idbill]

Hi all, I'm trying to reseat the valve cover gasket in my Ford 641. How tight should that thing be? Should it just lie in place or do you have to work hard to stretch it? It's about all I can do to get it stretched to fit, and once that's done I'm not sure how I'm going to get the cover back in place without the gasket slipping out. So, I'm wondering if the gasket is just old and dry and should be replaced, or if there's something I'm missing. Picture is attached. Thanks.

 

[Stimw]

Is it a new gasket?
What material?
Maybe you can put it in hot water to soften and stretch it???

 

[CincyFlyer]

For something like a valve cover, unless it's a cast item that has a groove that holds an o-ring type of seal, I'd just replace the darned gasket without question. If you have to stretch it, it's likely to pull inward and leak.

 

[2458n]

You need a new gasket and some red permatex high temp silicone. Glue the gasket to the valve cover and hold overnight in place with the old spring loaded clothes pins. Drop bolts thru the holes to make sure your alignment is good. Now you can turn it upside down and shift it around without worrying about where the gasket is. Should have looked at picture-everything is a chevy to me- forget about using bolts to align holes.

 

[idbill]

Thanks for all the fast replies. I'm new to the tractor (and to tractors in general), but I'd guess by the looks of it the gasket's ancient. I will replace and glue in place.