Valve Cover Bails

For those who obsess about exactly how their 356 left the factory!
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MarioManzo
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Valve Cover Bails

#1 Post by MarioManzo »

Beyond the color needing to be black...what years do the different shapes (where they clamp down on the valve cover) correspond to? As shown in the pics, there's a pointy and flat version. And most importantly (to me), what's correct for a 1963 s90 coupe? Thx
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Spencer Harris
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Re: Valve Cover Bails

#2 Post by Spencer Harris »

The pointy version on the left is listed in 53, 55, 57 PET 59 and PET 65 parts manuals as PN 369.04.240
(See corrected information in post below).
Valve Cover Clamp.JPG
Last edited by Spencer Harris on Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Spencer Harris
San Joaquin Valley, CA.

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Daryl Bruhl
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Re: Valve Cover Bails

#3 Post by Daryl Bruhl »

For what its worth, my numbers matching 63 super 90 has the flat version that fit in a depressed groove in the vented covers. I suppose they could have been switched at some time during engine work. Daryl Sunny SoCal
Daryl Bruhl

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Spencer Harris
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Re: Valve Cover Bails

#4 Post by Spencer Harris »

Daryl Bruhl wrote:For what its worth, my numbers matching 63 super 90 has the flat version that fit in a depressed groove in the vented covers. I suppose they could have been switched at some time during engine work. Daryl Sunny SoCal
I'm sure your flat bails are original Daryl. The flat ones are what you need Mario. Stoddard sells the flat version as NLA.04.240.
https://www.stoddard.com/53904240-nla.html.html
At some point (prior to '63) they must've changed the design and kept the part number - and didn't change the picture in the parts books. I had all my parts manuals open yesterday researching another project - thus my earlier reply. My pre-A and A engines ('58 and older) all have the pointy version bails.
2Valve Cover Clamp.JPG
Spencer Harris
San Joaquin Valley, CA.

MarioManzo
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Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: Valve Cover Bails

#5 Post by MarioManzo »

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for pulling all the information and sharing the info. KTF

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Wil Mittelbach
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Re: Valve Cover Bails

#6 Post by Wil Mittelbach »

MarioManzo wrote:Beyond the color needing to be black...what years do the different shapes (where they clamp down on the valve cover) correspond to? As shown in the pics, there's a pointy and flat version. And most importantly (to me), what's correct for a 1963 s90 coupe? Thx
As a reference:-
Herewith a photo of my `65 C's valve cover and bail.
Note the contact widths of the bail and the cover's steps. I believe they are the same as on your car.
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C Engine Valve Cover & Bail.JPG
C Engine Valve Cover & Bail.JPG (41.15 KiB) Viewed 1628 times

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