I have my head off my engine and I'm getting ready to put it back together. Ask I was cleaning the gaskets off I noticed there is a slight lip or step up from the block to the timing cover. Is this normal or should they be flush?

 

Normal the square portion of the head gasket that keeps oil in the timing cover will lap over it the remainng portion of the head gasket makes up the difference in the mating surfaces ..

 

ok thanks. I was wondering because I constantly have slight leaks in that area

 

They tend to sep there and over the years build up I nice sludge around the timing cover edges . I had to machine my timing cover down after removing a lot off block and head material

 

they *should* be level. If the block is machined, it should be done with the timing cover to prevent that from happening. regular composite head gaskets will compress and keep it from being a huge problem... sometimes

 

Service manual says to apply a little sealant there when timing cover specs are from 0 to 1.2 mm I normally just rely on the gasket itself don't like rtv around my head gaskets