My rocker cover gaskets are starting to leak. Has anyone tried this themselves or is it better to get a mechanic?

Lots of people have done the rocker cover gaskets and spark plug tube seals.
Do a search:
Just one old example, plenty of others.

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58812&highlight=rocker+cover+gaskets

since this thread popped up, gotta ask.
Can you use the old 'silicon gasket' trick?

On my old falcon, the rocker cover was warped and the cork gasket never sealed, so a bush mechanic showed me a little trick he used.

What you do is smear a very thin film of oil over the head, and then run a small, unbroken, bead of silicon around the rocker cover and then gently sit the cover on the head. Let it sit until the silicon sets, then torque down.
The idea being that the thin film of oil prevents the silicon from sticking to the head, and you have just made a gasket that stays with the rocker cover and is shaped perfectly with the surfaces.

It worked on the old falcon, but thats an old falcon. Will it work on the Magna?

Will it work on the Magna?

No. Read the threads. Buy the gaskets. Not a job you want to do several times over to save a few dollars.

since this thread popped up, gotta ask.
Can you use the old 'silicon gasket' trick?

On my old falcon, the rocker cover was warped and the cork gasket never sealed, so a bush mechanic showed me a little trick he used.

What you do is smear a very thin film of oil over the head, and then run a small, unbroken, bead of silicon around the rocker cover and then gently sit the cover on the head. Let it sit until the silicon sets, then torque down.
The idea being that the thin film of oil prevents the silicon from sticking to the head, and you have just made a gasket that stays with the rocker cover and is shaped perfectly with the surfaces.

It worked on the old falcon, but thats an old falcon. Will it work on the Magna?

That might work to get you out of the bush and home, or if you are really tight with money.

Yes, there you are, half way down the Birdsville track, and you decide to do your rocker cover gaskets, so you pull over out of the way of other traffic (what traffic?) and get out your tube of silastic . . . .

No, honestly, I've been down the path of doing half baked jobs in my youth, but after a while they accumulate. After doing a shoddy job on the gaskets, brakes and exhaust, and finding the gaskets still leak, the brakes still pull to one side, and the exhaust still farts, I got to the point where it was all too much and I junked the car. Wasn't worth the frustration.

So my advice, after 50 years of playing backyard mechanic:

(1) Do each job as it arises. Organise tools and parts before you start.
(2) Do it correct & by the book; do it once, do it right.

If you can't do those things, go see a mechanic.

Best to get them replaced - and don't try the old bush remedy of over tightening the cover bolts (like I did) it will mean you bend the cover and even with new gaskets the seal will be marginal. Make sure your mechanic has the torque wrench settings.