66 Coupe Inline 6 Oil Pan Gasket

[Sweetmarie66]

Hey everyone. I had the ultimate fail happen this afternoon. You might want to sit as you will probably find this amusing. So I was installing the t stat and housing and when I was bringing the bolt and washer over the washer slipped off the bolt and I heard a "ting" , ( keep in mind the timing cover is also off) my heart dam near stopped. I realized it had fallen into the oil pan!!!!!!! Fml. Yes I no. Why didn't he have it covered with a rag? I did. I just wiped my hands with it because my other one was on the bench. Anyways looooooong story short I dropped the pan and was lucky to purchase one for Napa today. Question . Should I do the pan gasket first and then the timing cover After? Also any tips on replacing the gasket would be awsome. I hope you all enjoyed my confrontation with complete retardation this afternoon. Here is a pic of the washer. And yes I'm giving my self the finger. Sheesh

 

[rbohm]

oh, all the times so many of us have done things like this, you would be in stitches and sucking air.

do put the timing cover one before installing the oil pan, it makes things easier.

ok first thing to do is after cleaning the pan rails, both on the pan and the block, closely examine the bolt holes in the oil pan, and make sure they are as flat as possible. a small ball peen hammer will done nicely here, and you dont have to beat the metal to death, but you do need to support it when flattening it out.

i like to glue the pan gasket to the oil pan with some good 3M weather strip glue, we used to call it elephant snot in the old days when i was racing. it works great, just remember to put the pan bolts in the holes to properly locate the gasket while the glue dries. it does make it harder to clean the pan rail the next time though, but usually some mr gasket gasket remover cleans that up nicely, just DONT GET IT ON YOUR SKIN. that stuff will clean the flesh off to the bone if you are not careful.

when the glue has dried, take some rtv and use that to install the rubber seals on the main caps, you dont need a lot though so dont goop it on. once the seals are in place, put a little dab of the rtv in the corners where the oil pan will sit, and then install the pan. install the bolts and lightly tighten them down as evenly as possible. i like to tighten up the corners first since that is where the leaks will usually start, and then run the rest down in an inside out pattern. you can do this one side then the other if you choose, just do it evenly. i think the torque spec on these is like 10-15ft/lbs at most, you dont need a lot, just enough to hold everything in place and prevent leaks. if you tighten the pan down until the gasket just starts to bulge a bit, you are right on the mark.

 

[Realmongo]

Ditto on the timing cover first. Much less chance of leaks afterwards!

 

[Sweetmarie66]

Just awsome Richard as always. Followed your recipe to a t except could not find the elephant snot lol. Used loctite gasket rtv. Had a bunch of magnets sticking around (hahaha) and used them to hold the gasket nice and flat while the rtv set up a bit. Went on crazy simple. Torqued to 12 lbs ( just when the cork mushroomed a little like you said) . Looking pretty sick. Thank you everyone!!!

 

[rbohm]

the hardest part is sealing the rear part of the pan when it is in the car. you should have no leaks though.

 

[Sweetmarie66]

Guess we will find out. Hope it seals. Thanks again Richard