Hi guys!

New member here. I live in western Michigan, and am in the process of slowly rebuilding a 1.8 914/4 engine for use in a Sterling kit car someday.

I just got a used set of type 4 bolt-on valve covers, for the engine. They came without hardware, and I was wondering if any of you could please tell me which hardware kit I need to get for these -- it looks like Empi has a few different versions available, and I'm not sure which one is correct for these covers, or if the T1 & T4 bolt-on covers share the same hardware.

Here's a pic:



I had originally planned on just buying some metric coupling nuts, bols & o-rings from a hardware store & cutting the nuts to the necessary length, but was surprised to find that the rocker shaft studs in the heads I've got seem to be M7x1.0, which is an oddball size that's not available in my area. Even McMaster-Carr doesn't carry much in M7 fasteners. So it looks like I've got to buy one of the kits. I was surprised that the studs were that small -- I expected at least an M8 for rocker studs. They seem like a pretty high-stress and important fastener, that you wouldn't want to fail.
And just out of curiosity -- I assume that the coupling-type nuts in the kits replace the stock rocker shaft nuts & do double duty in anchoring the arms & providing threads for the cover bolts. Is that correct? If so, are the original stock nuts some type of high-strength steel, and are the nuts in the kits of comparable strength? I ask because I've never seen a high-strength coupling nut -- they always appear to me to be around Grade 2 or the metric equivalent.

Do the kit nuts have a different thread size in each end, or are the covers actually held on by little M7 bolts?


Also -- I've seen these particular covers sometimes referred to as "Mr. Bug/Empi" covers. Was Mr. Bug some company that originally made them that later got bought out by Empi? Or always paart of Empi? Just curious.

Thank you for any advice or info anyone can offer. And Happy New Year!

Thank you!

Drew J.

I have heard nothing good about the covers from previous postings. They leak. Maybe someone else can support this claim.

I'd like to hear more about this also.

From what I have heard. They end up pulling the rocker mount studs out of the head. Too much torque needed and so the threads strip eventually.

Tried that type of vc many years ago and they always seemd to leak...no matter what I did to remedy the problem. It was the seal around the stud manily...
Always went back to the stock steel ones with the stock bales.
Good gaskets were the most important thing for not leaking.
This was on autox and race type 4 engines.
Also I always thought that the two valve train studs didn't need anymore pressure on them by holding down the valve cover...
And these things were heavier than the stock ones anyway....all weight creates a problem for a race car.
Just my 2c on the subject

And I can guarantee you don't want to have to deal with a problem like this one someday... the engine has to come out to fix it. and to do it right you should pull the head.

Although this broken stud had another cause, the fix would be just as troublesome. and I consider myself lucky that the threads were still good. if the stud pulled out and took the threads with it the problem could be worse.

I think the aluminum covers look cool but use the stock ones with the bail.

Click to view attachment

My new-to-me car came with the bolt ons and I was excited that I wouldn't have to scrape my knuckles on those bales again! Maybe I never had the technique down, or probably I'm just uncoordinated.

I looked at them but heard nothing but leek problems so dropped the idea.

They were supposed to be an improvement, helping to cool the oil. Upside is questionable, when in doubt go OEM, it works.

I've seen many of these type of vc on vw beetle engines. They all leaked.
Replaced with stock vc and sealed up fine.
Plus, like others have said, they can break off your rocker studs.
My opinion is, stay with stock. I'm sure if the engineers could've done it better, they would have.

I've only handled those covers once.
I found that if placed on the head with no gasket and no hardware the cover did not sit flush.....it rocked. A bad thing.
If you can't live without them make a visit to a machinist first.

I have nothing good to say about them.
The stock cover/bail moves with the expansion and contraction of the engine/head.

An attempt to provide a solution where no problem exists.
Stock valve covers if installed right don't leak. Why deviate?

Apparently there's a dude pretty darn close to you that knows a couple things about 914's...

IMHO the stock spring clip covers are the best. They provide good even pressure via the spring clip. No chance of under or over tightening. Many try the bolt on ones because they look cool, but end up coming back to the good old stock VW system in the end.

Get a set of 914Rubber improved valve cover seals and put the stock covers back on. Life is GOOD!