Oil pan gasket question

[sixtyfive]

Anyone know what you should use for an oil pan gasket on a 84-94 302 block. I remember hearing that some of the 302's dont like the 1 peice gasket.
Is the 4 peice one good for any 302 block?

 

[ratio411]

I use a one piece gasket on my 72 302, and on my 91 roller 302.
I am happy with both.

 

[chromedog]

if you have the motor on an engine stand, upsidedown,starter, and fuel pump off, save a few bucks (ok, 40 bucks) and go with the 4 piece. otherwise use the felpro one piece, with the metal reinforcement

 

[JamesW]

The Felpro one piece metal reinforced silicone unit is really nice. you just stick it on using the 4 holding guides that are supplied with the gasket. It has a metal core, so all you can't overtighten.

Be sure to surgically clean your block surface and your pan lip. Also use a touch of form-a-gasket in the inside rear corners where the little ears of the gasket fit into the pockets at the base of the rear bearing seal.

Oh and don't forget to use the metal braces on the outside lip of the pan.

 

[sixtyfive]

Sounds good, thanks for the info

 

[fvike]

I used the Ford Racing one-piece gasket. Happy with it. Used Locktite sealer on both sides.

 

[sixtyfive]

Ran into a little problem, the pan doesent just slide right out. It binds up on the bar underneath the rear part of the pan and then harmonic balancer in the front. Is there anyway around having to remove the bar or raise the engine?

 

[sixtyfive]

Can I temporarily remove/loosen the bolts that hold the larger bar in place?

Oh and.... what is this bar called?

Should I have the car on jackstands when i loosen this or take any other precautions? I just dont know how critical this peice is basically!

 

[CraigMBA]

You need to remove the crossmember. You'll likely need to remove the idler arm bolts and lower the drag link.

If you have air tools, the crossmember is pretty easy to zip out. If you don't......you can't get it off.

 

[CraigMBA]

If your pan uses the stiffening rails, the one piece gasket is the correct one.

If your pan DOESN'T (a stock front sump 289 pan, for example) you need the 4 piece setup.

If you have an aftermarket pan, call the folks who made it and ask them.

 

[68keyblr]

I did the in-car oil pan swap. Just remove the cross member and unbold the idler arm from the frame rail and you can make the swap.

I used the Ford Racing 1 piece gasket and it works great. $25 at summit as opposed to the $40 felpro 1 piece.

 

[sixtyfive]

this is my first time messing with anything steering wise on this car, so its good for me to learn. Diddnt have much time today but I got the nut off that connects the drag link to the idler arm and the drag link to the tie rod end.

Its easy to tell this stuff has not been apart in quite awhile and I was just wanting to check and see if it is ok to hammer on the bars to get them apart. Since i was running short on time I just undid the nuts and soaked the connections with some wd40 since they do not easily come apart.

Whats the best method to get them apart?


Oh and btw I got the cross member off with a breaker bar and a peice of conduit i dont own an impact

 

[CraigMBA]

Put the nut back on the drag link.

Take the two bolts off that hold the idler arm bracket to the frame rail.

You can then pull the drag link down without using a pickle fork, potentialy destroying the idler arm and bending the drag link, requiring a fresh alignment.

Consider yourself lucky on the crossmember.

 

[ratio411]

If your pan uses the stiffening rails, the one piece gasket is the correct one.

If your pan DOESN'T (a stock front sump 289 pan, for example) you need the 4 piece setup.

If you have an aftermarket pan, call the folks who made it and ask them.

I have an FMS one piece in my 72 302.
Should I not have used it?

Seems to be holding fine. I have one in my roller 5.0 as well, but it has the pan rail braces.

I like the 1 pc because it has the metal to keep from squishing the gasket out the side of the pan, it is reuseable, it requires no RTV at all, and it is one piece (duh!).


Edit:
Can anyone think of a reason I can't use a set of pan rail braces on a 72 oil pan???
Is there a big difference between pan rails that would keep me from doing this.
I like the braces and I do have a set laying around on a shelf somewhere.

 

[sixtyfive]

Ok! well bad news, leaks worse than before...

I used RTV on the block corners and have all the bolts quite tight, should they be torqued to about 30? Ill check the chiltons book for the numbers but I would assume the ford racing rubber/steel could handle being a little tighter then the felt cork ones. Hopefully it just needs to be a little tighter, but with my luck ill probably be starting from scratch.

 

[68keyblr]

30 is way too high. I torque mine to 12-15 ft/lbs. Where is it leaking from?

It took me 3 times to get it perfect, so be patient

 

[iskwezm]

I used the Ford Racing 1 piece gasket and it works great. $18 at summit as opposed to the $40 felpro 1 piece.

Just bought one

thanks

 

[sixtyfive]

sounds good, ill check em tommorow
its leakin out of one side a little spot, the back slightly, and the other side as well


the only area that does not leak is the front, which is where I had the initial problem

ill take another crack at it tommorow, hopefully tightening will solve the side problems but the back is what worries me as far as whether the gasket is in the groove


keyblr how much rtv did you use?

 

[CraigMBA]

I bought a Fel Pro one piece gasket and it leaked when I primed the oil pump - the engine was still on the engine stand..

I put in a four piece unit and it didn't leak.

I don't know if the FMS piece is any different, but if yours doesn't leak, I think you're OK.

 

[65ShelbyClone]

I used a one-piece SCE gasket with a 5.0 pan and rails when my engine was in my '89GT. I tried to reuse the gasket a few thousand miles later when I put the engine in my '68 and it leaked like a sieve. Now it has a 4-piece with the old style pan and so far it's still dry.