RTV on snout for LSA

[Valkyrie14]

Last night I remounted the snout on the LSA lower. I used black RTV. When I lined up the coupler I had to use a bit of force to get the lower and the snout to come together enough to thread the bolts. The surfaces came together faster than I wanted. I then hand tightened the bolts and an hour later torqued to 22 ft pounds.

This morning when I look in side the snout I see a series of stalactites hanging down and a raised bead on the bottom where the snout mounts up. Is this a problem? I know nothing should go into the rotors and I am concerned that over time the RTV May break loose and fly int there. I only ran a thin bead of RTV. I can take it apart clean it up and do it again. But first I wanted to see if this is normal and no matter how many times I do it this will happen.

[Greenhornet2]

I don't know the lsa or what you are talking about. I assume it's supposed to be sealed with rtv and there's no gasket? Maybe rather than running a bead you can make a thin film with your finger so you don't get the excess? Or If it's accessible trim the excess with a razor

[Valkyrie14]

Originally Posted by Greenhornet2

I don't know the lsa or what you are talking about. I assume it's supposed to be sealed with rtv and there's no gasket? Maybe rather than running a bead you can make a thin film with your finger so you don't get the excess? Or If it's accessible trim the excess with a razor

Yeah no gasket. I am going to take it apart again and try one more time. My hand can’t get in there well enough to trim.

[dru21281]

Loctite 518 Anaerobic gasket maker works good, and you can wipe away excess...

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[Valkyrie14]

Originally Posted by dru21281

Loctite 518 Anaerobic gasket maker works good, and you can wipe away excess...

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip

[Valkyrie14]

So I took off the snout and cleaned it again to remount. I used less RTV this time and smoothed it flat with my finger this time. It still beaded up when I tightened up the bolts, but not near as bad. The beading is small and didn’t drip into a stalagtite situation inside the snout. Not factory but will have to work.

[blake-b]

It was never an issue with my ls9

[Valkyrie14]

Originally Posted by blake-b

It was never an issue with my ls9

Did you have the RTV bead up inside? I don’t think it will break loose over time, heat and forced air.

[blake-b]

Originally Posted by Valkyrie14

Did you have the RTV bead up inside? I don’t think it will break loose over time, heat and forced air.

Yes but I used my finger to smooth it all as I tightened down. My method sounds similar to yours - I applied RTV and finger tightened down the bolts. I then smoothed out and wiped off excess RTV. About an hour later, I torqued them down. I have done that twice now with no ill effects.

Another thing you could do is go buy a sheet of gasket material and cut it to fit. I have done that several times on other things. My 112mm throttle body came with a gasket so I didn't have to RTV it. When I had the 108mm, I had to RTV the adapter and TB.

[Juiced1]

You don't need much rtv. A little will always squeeze out of the side. That just means the snout is nice and flush against the blower.

[RobZL1]

For an application at work, I've actually rolled on Permatex ultrablack with an acrylic roller to join two plates that seal small CNC pathways machined in one plate. In this application it holds over 100psi without leak, and the thickness of the permatex is negligible (no squeeze out).

My point is: you just have to make sure you get a uniform coating, but permatex can be very thin and still work perfectly. Side benefit: no squeeze-out!