Oil Pan gasket & Rear main seal?

[Richard Dobson]

I am replacing the oil pan gasket in a 396 I bought. I bought Victor gaskets, are the good ones? The front and rear ones are rubber and I guess the sides are also but I havent removed them from the package yet. While removing the oil pan I knocked off the oil pick up from the oil pump. I don't know what the engine milage is other that what the PO told me. I am thinking of replacing the rear main seal while I'm at it just for insurance. Could someone tell me the torque on the bolts for the rear main cap since I will be removing it to replace the rear main seal and replace the oil pick up. BTW, what is the procedure to replace the oil pick up tube? It did'nt look like it was bent or anything from where I knocked it off while removing the oil pan. Is there a tool I need to use when replacing it?

[haysonj]

The torque on your bolts is 110 ft pounds. I don't know how the pickup fell off as they are pressed in and are usually pretty tight. They make a tool for installing them but it can be done with a flat punch by gently tapping on the ridge and working around the tube until it is seated

[Richard Dobson]

After the pick-up tube is re-installed should it be tak welded or something?

[Lugnut64052]

If you're re-using the old pickup, you might braze it in place, depending on how loose it is when you get it tapped back in. Seeing as how it fell out when you took the pan off, it may be too loose to stay put by itself. If you get a new one, it'll crush into place tight enough not to worry about falling out.

You can't really "weld" sheet metal to cast iron, so you'd have to braze it. And if you do, take the pressure relief spring out of the pump first so you don't ruin the spring tension with the heat.

You may want to just go get a new pickup. They're pretty cheap.

[Stock72c10]

Did it "fall" off, or did you break it off. I know for my engine you need to raise the whole engine to get the oil pan off (I should know, I replaced the oil pan gasket twice in the last month, the second time when I replaced the rear main seal). You only need to lift the engine a few inches to get it to clear. If you have the two piece type rear main seal they are a breeze to replace, the bolts should have a marking on them telling you the torque (mine did at least). On my oil pan gaskets the front and rear were rubber, the sides were cork, be careful not to over torque the pan bolts. I would recommend purchasing a Haynes Manual or similar, it really makes the job easier when you know what order to do it in. Good luck!

[Richard Dobson]

The engine is out of the truck on a engine stand. I knocked the oil pick-up tube out when I was removing the oil pan with the engine right side up and got the thing caught on the baffles when lowering the pan I guess. I want to rotate the engine on the stand to a upside down position before re-installing the oil pan. It looke like a chore to invert a engine on a stand though. Yeah, I am concerned about the proper sequence of putting the gaskets in, sides and rear first, then the timing chain last. 110 ft/lbs on the rear main when I remove it to replace the seal? Thanks for the input.