47-55.1 I got the oil pan blues......

[TX3100Guy]

As some of you may recall, my tribulations with the oil pan started early in my build. As spending nearly two years assembling the parts of the 1953 truck with the 1959 261 engine along with the McCulloch supercharger, I found a huge puddle of oil under the truck after its first test drive. This ended up being the result of a cracked crank main cap. So the engine was sent out to be rebuilt.

Eight months later I reinstalled the engine and since the magneto was out being rebuilt, I tried starting the freshly rebuilt engine with a new distributor that turned out to have a shaft 1/2 inch too short to engage the oil pump, but of course I didn't detect that until enough damage had been done that a second rebuild was required.

After the engine was back from its second trip to California, I began having to deal with significant overheating problems. Once I finally got that under control through a mixture of greater fan cooling, betting timing, and a richer fuel mixture, since the supercharger was pushing significantly more air than stock. It was winter and I didn't drive it very much.

However the original oil pan had an annoying and constant drip. At first I thought it was the drain plug since it seemed to be coming from the plug, however closer inspection revealed a crease and small pin holes along the bottom edge of the drain plug threaded backing plate. I attempted a repair, but the leak persisted. After much searching I finally found a pan in reasonable enough shape that a thorough cleaning and paint and it looked ready for work.

A few weeks ago, I finally got around to pulling the old drippy pan and installed the newly refurbished one. All seemed good, until I took it out for along drive this past weekend. When I came home, I idled it in the driveway to fuss about with some minor annoyance and when I walked back out to the truck from my garage there was a small puddle of oil.

Today I pulled the oil pan to find the source of the leak and sure enough I found that the front rubber seal that goes between the pan and the crank front main cap was not properly seated and this was the location of the oil leak (see photo below).

My question now is, what is the proper way to reinstall the pan, gasket, and rubber seals. The last several times I had to pull the pan, when I reinstalled I took the following steps.

1) with the pan mating surface cleaned, I put down a generous layer of Black Ultra RTV
2) then the cork gaskets with the rubber gaskets on each end were sealed to the pan
3) then after that had cured, I put a layer of the Black Ultra RTV on top of the cork and rubber gaskets and installed the pan.

Should the rubber gaskets be installed on the engine first, then mate the pan with the cork gaskets? Should there be any RTV used on the rubber gaskets and/or the main caps and/or pan?

[leegreen]

Too much RTV under the rubber seal and the seal was forced out of the slot when you tightened it? Or letting it cure first made the RTV too thick to squirt out of the way?

The rubber seals and cork gaskets are designed to be used on their own, or with some thin 1950s era gasket adhesive. Oily engines were also the norm back then so I would use RTV, but just a smear. And put it all together while the RTV is wet. put a bit heavier a dollop of RTV at the 4 corners where pan, block, main cap and gaskets all come together, but not so much you get a lot of squeeze out.

[dsraven]

I always use the same procedure as LG explained above. I ensure all the parts are clean and dry first, then I use "the right stuff" silicone as the sealer medium. sparingly.
sometimes I will use the aerosol gasket adhesive on the cork parts when the engine is upside down. there are also plastic stakes that screw into the oil pan bolt holes in the block so the gaskets and oil pan can be held in proper alignment. they have bumps on them to allow the gasket and pan to slip over them. felpro makes them, they are called snap ups. it's like haveing a third hand and can really help alignment on jobs where there are alot of things that need to align at the same time

https://www.felpro.com/technical/tec...h-snapups.html

[dsraven]

the gasket adhesive I use, when needed, is called high tack. permatex is the manufacturer. it may also come as a brush on product.

[TX3100Guy]

Originally Posted by leegreen

Too much RTV under the rubber seal and the seal was forced out of the slot when you tightened it? Or letting it cure first made the RTV too thick to squirt out of the way?

The rubber seals and cork gaskets are designed to be used on their own, or with some thin 1950s era gasket adhesive. Oily engines were also the norm back then so I would use RTV, but just a smear. And put it all together while the RTV is wet. put a bit heavier a dollop of RTV at the 4 corners where pan, block, main cap and gaskets all come together, but not so much you get a lot of squeeze out.

Originally Posted by dsraven

I always use the same procedure as LG explained above. I ensure all the parts are clean and dry first, then I use "the right stuff" silicone as the sealer medium. sparingly.
sometimes I will use the aerosol gasket adhesive on the cork parts when the engine is upside down. there are also plastic stakes that screw into the oil pan bolt holes in the block so the gaskets and oil pan can be held in proper alignment. they have bumps on them to allow the gasket and pan to slip over them. felpro makes them, they are called snap ups. it's like haveing a third hand and can really help alignment on jobs where there are alot of things that need to align at the same time

https://www.felpro.com/technical/tec...h-snapups.html

I can always count on your tow guys to give great advice. I just ordered a set of snap ups, which should greatly ease aligning the pan properly.

One question though. Should the rubber gasket sections be applied to the pan and then the pan up to the block, or should I place the rubber gaskets into the end caps and then offer up the pan?

Up until now, I have tried placing them on the pan edge but have been thinking since this leak that they would sit flatter into the cap if I put them up first, with just a dab of RTV or the aviation cement that I have (very close to the high tack product by Permatex)

[geezer#99]

I’ve always found it better to attach the gaskets to the block first.
Have you tried the flashlight in the pan trick to see how well your pan fits?

[dsraven]

I usually glue the gaskets to the block, fit the rubber end seals into the groove if there is one, bab a little "the right stuff" where needed in the corners where the rubber meets the cork.(usually a small amount under the rubber to ensure s seal, then the gasket tucks into a slot there on some rubbers equipped with the slot, then push that section together and dab a little into that corner where the pan may not fit the contours exactly). I do both ends of the block, then, with the gaskets and rubber seals stuck in place, I put the snap thingys in place and push the pan up onto them. sometimes I will use a couple of extra long pan bolts to bring the pan up closer, and evenly, so the normal pan bolts can be installed a few threads. then try to evenly screw in the pan bolts so the pan contacts the gaskets and rubbers squarely. when up against all the way around and the longer "starter" bolts have been replaced with the normal pan bolts, I start to torque up the bolts starting at the ends first. with a cork gasket it is impoortant not to go crazy when tightening the bolts up because too much will just make the pan cut into the cork, as well as possibly moving the rubber seals out of place.
hope that helps, I am sure there are other, better, ways. thats just how I do it.

[dsraven]

thats a great idea Geezer. flashlight in the pan, no gaskets or seals, bring the pan up snug, check for light where the pan may not fit well.
also, I usually place the pan on the edge of the steel workbench and use a small ball pein hammer on the bolt holes to ensure they are not concaved into the gasket surface area. I place the hammer head with the round side against the pan bolt hole, then hit that hammer head with a dead blow to push the gasket surface back to flat again at the bolt holes. sometimes they get mis-shaped from the previous bolt torque down.

[geezer#99]

Even better to use a washer between the pan and block on all 4 corners.