There is a company out west that does EXTREMELY expensive, but very cool, overhauls of helicopter engines. They've blueprinted cnc data for major makes and can dismantle, cnc route oring channel in all gasket surfaces and reassemble. Weeping is kept to a bare minimum compared to the previous paper/fiber gaskets. Overhauls are a relative breeze with no more scraping/polishing/damaging sealing surfaces. It's passed all A/P testing and certifications. Oring dimensions are standardized to allow just a few gauges needed and cutting rings to fit and joining with special cyanoacrylate is a very simple process.
The company has, for those with deep pockets like Jay Leno, done this to a few cars and motorcycles. Funny thing is that it's not state of the art technology. The repeatablilty of cnc data driven machining has made it commercially possible as an aftermarket service, but just the idea of designing in oring channel to mating parts is probably not utilized nearly enough. On our older designs it might have reflected the relative scarcity of oring 'in the field' for future maintenance, but I don't see why paper/fiber could not be used as a stand in to get a machine running even IF oring was not available. Properly machined, the oring should depress 10 to 15 percent of its original dimension to form a seal.
It wouldn't be worth the effort to apply this trick to our R65 valve covers. I'm just sayin. There are sooooooooo many better ways than this original design. Even four more mounting studs to bring the total to seven (six along with the center stud) would have been preferrable. That big figure eight would have seven guide holes stamped into it instead of three and there, problem pretty much solved. Takes five more minutes once every two years or so to remove for valve maintenance. Big deal.
