Gonna be fixing some things tonight on the Miata, one of them being the replacement of my valve cover gasket because it's seeping oil in spots.

The procedure I followed when I had my Saturn, and for other Saturns I worked on, was to clean everything up of course, then install the gasket in the cover, lay a thin bead of black rtv down on the gasket, and then put the valve cover back on the head, but not torquing it down completely, but just so that it was on there snugly. Then I'd let it dry for a couple of hours, and come back and torque it down to specs and in bolt order. Saturns always have seepage issues, and this process always was able to clear them up. Just wanted to make sure that doing this on my Miata would be ok as well.

Also, I want to verify the torque order for the Miata as well.
Is this correct?:

Found it on Miata.net, but just want to make sure that it's right!
Thanks!

 

Don't forget to put a gob of RTV in the sharp corners by the CAS and cams.

 

Yep! Finally found a walkthrough on Miata.net, dumb because I didn't look there first. Still learning these Miata sites. --> LINK
But:
9. Apply high temperature silicone sealant to the corners where the cam bearing caps and crank angle sensor cap meet the cylinder head.


Thanks!

 

dont need sealent. ran just the rubber gasket on my 92 never leaked.