Well after having my 98 GT jacked up and openned up for a valve cover gasket, plug, and wire replacement that took about 2 months (not alot of free time), I finally closed her all the way up, refilled the fluids, put the key in the ignition and. . . she roared up!

Oh man I was so nervous but she held in there and sounded a little smoother than before. Less of a puffing noise from the passenger exhaust that's for sure.

Sadly while I was waiting for her to warm up, I noticed smoke coming from underneath the middle of the driver valve cover. I immediately turned it off and then noticed oil steadily leaking from the rear of the same valve cover dripping onto the exhaust. I tightened the valve cover bolts on the middle and the rear as they were oddly loose. Started her back up and the smoke went away but the drip/stream of oil from the back is still there. Sadly I think the gasket came unseated during reinstallation and I'll need to do it all over again. . . not fun with that clutch cable in the way. Not to mention more money. But part of learning.

Honestly I consider it a victory because I didn't observe a leak from the passenger side (yet) and I was worried that tank full of gas that had been sitting still for months went bad but nope. So onto the next steps. Maybe I'll try calling one of those mobile mechanics for a more professional touch. Don't want to drive it to a garage with oil dripping directly on the hot exhaust. Wish me luck!

 

when you pull that cover, make sure the new gasket didnt get pinched when it unseated itself, you may have to buy another set. Also, get a can of trim/headliner adhesive spray. Clean the cover where the gasket goes in, spray some of that adhesive in the channel where the gasket sits, and give it a minute or two to get tacky. When you put the new gasket in, it'll be slightly glued to the cover and less prone to come unseated during installation.

 

Darn it I wish I knew about that. The only suggestions I found were to use dabs of RTV or gasket maker but the instructions for those clearly state NOT to use them that way. I still did out of desperation but the holding results were meh.

I'm hoping the gasket isn't pinched or messed up but my hopes are low sadlt. But I'll keep crossing fingers.