Those are on my 5.0 and I'm trying to find out about when they were available and when they were discontinued. I'm going to eBay them soon and it would be kinda nice to know a little more about them first. I've been told early to mid or possibly late 60's. The raised logo cast inside is Mr. Gasket with the part numbers so I know the who, but not the when. The part numbers don't get me any information. - Dan
If Im not mistaken Mr Gasket bought out Cal Custom in the early 70's at some point. so that would date them to no older than the 70's if Im correct
So did Mr. Gasket not have any valve covers prior to buying out Cal Custom? I remember Cal Custom. Their name still lives on at Summit. And even though Mr. Gasket bought Cal Custom they still use the Cal Custom brand name. So if these covers were after the merger wouldn't Cal Custom be cast inside instead of Mr. Gasket?
Then I'm sure these covers are much older than that. I've been hot rodding since the mid 60's and remember seeing them as late as the early 70's on Fords but haven't seen them at all through the 80's. Of course, I've always been a Chevy guy and this Comet I have is my first Ford project. Had these been on a Chevy motor I would have probably been able to date them just from memory, although I don't recall seeing any Mr. Gasket covers with this design on a Chevy at all. But since they're Ford, I'm not really up to speed on what was available for them or the time period. Most of the reports I'm getting are from folks who seem to recall these in the mid 60's, but no one seems to know for sure. - Dan
You may find them to be earlier with some research, but I remember these hanging on the parts store walls in the 80's and I'd say mid 70's at the oldest from what I remember. Here is something else, didn't they make a sets of those cover with the B/M logo on them around 85 or so as a promotion or something? Cal Custom SBF come out in 65 but CalCustom Hawk was into 70's I'm not sure on the exact date, but yours, seem to come in after those. The earlier Mr Gasket lettered covers are rip-offs of the 68 forward M/T SBF design and they appear in the early 70's. The Chevy's are of the 65 forward M/T design. The 65-68 Ford were narrowed due to sealing problems on most heads. Your average stock SBF head is a 1/16th narrower than the gasket rail on the 65-68 covers including the Edelbrock knock off. Mr Gasket also had some that looked like the Chevy Lt-1's but with the Mr Gasket name in the block for Ford and Chevy. Weiand put their name on them too in the same time frame. I'll check some old stuff and see if I can find something earlier on them but small Ford dress up parts were less common in the early 60's since the engine is new for 62. Most of the covers people call early don't come out until after the Mustang hit big.
Algon, thanks for the info, sounds interesting. It was suggested earlier that these may be an M/T knockoff (or copy). But up next to my M/T's there's nothing even resembling one another. Both these MG's and M/T's I have are completely different in shape, height, fin design, etc. Usuaslly knock off's would be an almost identical match to what ever they're copying. I've compared these to several other covers and they don't even come clost to any other's in design. I've done side by side comparisons to M/T', current MG's, several Ford OEM, and I can't find anything even close to the same shape as these. One of the suggestions I was told is they very much resemble the offy's from the late 60's. Unfortunately I don't know of anyone having a pair of the offy's for comparison. - Dan
The ones you have are different than the M/T knock offs I was referring to. I was just stating that the earliest Mr Gasket covers I know of are the style that look just like a late style M/T but have the Mr Gasket name script on them where the M/T is supposed to be just as Holley does currently. I don't have a picture of the Mr gasket version but this is a pair of late M/T's from the classifieds the only difference is the logo. Also this is a Chevy pair of the other style that Mr Gasket sold after the M/T knock offs, I've seen decals in the center block and cast in Mr Gasket logos for both SBC and SBF. If you have anything on them I would like to see the "late" Offy covers, I'm only aware of the originals and the current reissue of the same. Either way good luck with the search...
I seem to remember those coming out in the early 80's as I sold them in my store during that time frame.
Algon, I've been searching for a picture of the Offy's I've been told about but can't seem to come up with one for comparison. I'm going to pull these covers off this weekend. I'll take some better pictures of them and post them up sometime early next week. I just got rid of the MT's I had so I won't be able to do a side by side shot of the two for comparison. But I do have a pair of Ford OEM covers to shoot them with just for a comparison of those two styles.
I wouldn't doubt it, but my only concern is this. If these were marketed in the 80's where did they all dissappear to. This is the only pair I've seen in many years. I go to a lot of car shows and see ton's of MT"s, Edlebrocks, and other covers that were popular in the 70's and 80's especially on older cars trying to maintain the retro (period correct) look, but I never see any of these. We're these possibly something that had a fairly short run maybe. ?
So those center ones ar Mr.Gasket? I have a set of those but the square thing just messes up the looks. I do remember that the Mr.Gasket shifters did not come into popularity at the street level until early 70s.
More than one company made those, but Mr Gasket did sell the exact same cover. I actually found a set at a local meet recently, still in the package with the decal pack. There is a style with the lettering of Mr. Gasket on both this type and the M/T knock off and there is also a M/T with a large "G" and the Mr gasket inside center of "G". Its like anything else, one company sold one design to another or was completely bought out but only the name on the back or a logo changed.
Anyone going to the Canfield meet that would be interested in a pair like dano7331's Mr G's there is a set forsale at the Roy's Rims trailer. They look to be as new and unused (NOS just doesn't sound right yet applied to an 80's part) but they weren't priced. I did get to look at the them, and its the modern Mr Gasket logo cast inside.
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