72 K30 Build

[7dee2]

Thanks guys all good suggestions, probably end up trying all three before we are done!

So the K30 has been running for a few weeks now and I’ve got some nagging overnight leaks that just won’t go away. You’re looking at an engine oil (left) & atf (right) leak, your also probably thinking that’s much of a leak. What you don’t know is that this first pic is after I drained the engine & trans over 24 hours earlier. Third pic is 48 hours later and last pic is 72 hours later prior to mounting to the engine stand and still leaking (how can it do that?) Jeez Lueez!

I’m most concerned with the engine oil leak because it’s coming from the rear main seal area. At first it only leaked a little overnight but progressively got worse to where it would slowly leak oil while running, not good.

[Dieselwrencher]

Brett, your engine sounds sweet! The C30 looks great! It is one nice ride. Te bench turned out great too. Sorry to see about the oil leak. I had an oil leak on my engine in my 72 after I finally got it going and fixed it this spring. At least your cab and sheet metal is out of the way and it saved you some time. Hopefully it's an easy quick fix.

[swamp rat]

I feel your pain! Had my tranny rebuilt and the 205 re gasketed and they still leak, took it back once and they put a new pan gasket on it but still have the same problem, I'm assuming no sealant was used on the gaskets.

[70stroker]

Truck is looking great. Oil leaks suck, im fighting a trans leak on my less the 2k rebuild.



Love the bench you made

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Brett, your engine sounds sweet! The C30 looks great! It is one nice ride. Te bench turned out great too. Sorry to see about the oil leak. I had an oil leak on my engine in my 72 after I finally got it going and fixed it this spring. At least your cab and sheet metal is out of the way and it saved you some time. Hopefully it's an easy quick fix.

Thanks Ryan, congrats on your 30-mile win w/o getting a ticket!

Originally Posted by swamp rat

I feel your pain! Had my tranny rebuilt and the 205 re gasketed and they still leak, took it back once and they put a new pan gasket on it but still have the same problem, I'm assuming no sealant was used on the gaskets.

Thanks Mike, I decided to run atf in my 205 and that thin weight stuff is asking for leaks for sure! Surprising enough it’s held it pretty well. Fixed one minor leak on the backside at startup and I’ve been watching a second really, really slow leak on the front side. I’ll drain it again and put a little sealer on the offending bolt and cross my fingers that’s it.

Originally Posted by 70stroker

Truck is looking great. Oil leaks suck, im fighting a trans leak on my less the 2k rebuild.

Love the bench you made

Thanks 70stroker, Ryan nailed it with all the sheet metal out of the way saves a lot of time. Mrs. 7dee2 does love her bench I’ve been spoiled ever since!


I’m fairly sure my trans leak is the pan and/or the vacuum modulator it’s dry around the dipstick tube and the cooling lines (fixed them at initial startup). This leak can be accessed fairly easily so shouldn’t be a biggie. We’ll deal with it after the motor is back in place.

[Dieselwrencher]

I forgot to drop my trans pan when I got my trans back from the trans shop last fall. I wanted to add some good sealer to the gasket to keep it from leaking. It's a plastic with steel gasket. I forgot to and guess what? It leaks a little. So annoying.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

I forgot to drop my trans pan when I got my trans back from the trans shop last fall. I wanted to add some good sealer to the gasket to keep it from leaking. It's a plastic with steel gasket. I forgot to and guess what? It leaks a little. So annoying.

Yep same here, would have been much easier without being full of fluid!


Found several issues that made my engine leak. First the pan gasket was leaking, after mounting the engine to the stand and flipping it upside down I found this. Removed the pan and 3 sides (front, left & rear) were fairly dry but starting on that front right corner (looks like oil was getting past the gasket on the block side in the red circle.) and running all the way down the right rail to the back it’s wet on the outside edge of the gasket. Not 100% on these one-piece style gaskets yet but at least I can clean it up and reuse it (with more sealer in certain areas) and that’s a really good thing.

Second our rear main seal and cap were not installed using any sealer, the seal was not offset. This area including all seal surfaces were very wet and the seal is cut in the inner channel near the seam. Once removed I found 3 of the 4 sides had that fate and this seal is junk.

[First c10]

Hey Brett that sucks. Sounds like crap I was dealing with on hulk jr. Stupid/crazy things that shouldn't be. I am sure you will get it. My small block has the same seal kit you used as it looks the same. I was able to snug up my oil pan and stop the pan lean I had on the motor. Knock on wood no drops on the driveway so far!

[Dieselwrencher]

Brett, check to make sure your oil pan isn't bulged towards the engine from being tightened/over tightened over the years. Usually the pans are dented up at every bolt hole and that can cause the one piece style seals to bulge/dis form and not seal correctly. You should be able to take a small ball peen hammer and get the holes flattend or dented the opposite way for your next install.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by First c10

Hey Brett that sucks. Sounds like crap I was dealing with on hulk jr. Stupid/crazy things that shouldn't be. I am sure you will get it. My small block has the same seal kit you used as it looks the same. I was able to snug up my oil pan and stop the pan lean I had on the motor. Knock on wood no drops on the driveway so far!

Thanks Scott, I’d much rather deal with it now you know (sh?t happens) and practice does make perfect! Ordered some extra-long bolts like the ones you guys used for round 2 as the others I used were stock length and perhaps didn’t bite quite as well as I’d thought they did?

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Brett, check to make sure your oil pan isn't bulged towards the engine from being tightened/over tightened over the years. Usually the pans are dented up at every bolt hole and that can cause the one piece style seals to bulge/dis form and not seal correctly. You should be able to take a small ball peen hammer and get the holes flattend or dented the opposite way for your next install.

Thanks Ryan, I did notice that when I installed this pan the first time and thought I had them all but you bet I'll look at it again prior to round 2!


While waiting on some parts to get here it’s time to get after that pesky pipe plug. The carnage continued with another Husky adaptor biting the dust. Good thing these have a lifetime warranty cuz they keep handing me new ones! So after a couple of failed attempts (with a propane torch) I borrowed a buddie’s acetylene setup to bring some serious heat. Also splurged on a different 1/2” to 3/8” impact adaptor from Proto that doesn’t have a warranty, hey it’s twice the money so it’s got to be better right?

TADA we win! It did twist the Proto adaptor as well, but who cares, winning!

[rgunlock]

Yay! I'm a sucker for stories where the good guy wins

[Dieselwrencher]

That's good you got the plug out. Keep an eye out for a bit for an air hammer that has a 3/8 extension end on it. I got one of them to get stubborn plugs out and it works awesome.

[7dee2]

Originally Posted by rgunlock

Yay! I'm a sucker for stories where the good guy wins

Thanks Rick, I was getting a little worried I’d end up having to drill the dang thing out like Mike had suggested earlier.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

That's good you got the plug out. Keep an eye out for a bit for an air hammer that has a 3/8 extension end on it. I got one of them to get stubborn plugs out and it works awesome.

Like this one Ryan? https://store.snapon.com/Socket-Adap...--P636879.aspx That looks like it would do a killer good job and I’m assuming it’s not hollow like the adaptors I’ve been using?



Parts are in and we sprung for an upgraded Felpro super-duper, extreme environment rear main seal. Here’s some pics for anyone that has not done this before, plenty of ultra-black and lubriplate. Wiped off excess sealer on the crankcase side once the cap was installed to keep it out of the motor. Turned the motor over by hand to try and get some lubriplate on the block side of the bearing and seal. I’ve never had a rear main leak that was done similar to this.

[swamp rat]

Moving forward!

[7dee2]

You Betcha!


Bottom end is all buttoned up, painted and it ain’t gointa leak this time!!

[junksaver]

Looking good. I hope you got it sealed up this time. Keep up the great progress.
I posted a link on how felpro recommends using their silicone rubber gaskets. These type of gaskets are top of the line and usually don't leak.
http://www.felpro-only.com/blog/clean-dry/

[7dee2]

Thanks junksaver me too and thanks for the link you’re 100% correct, that’s a big reason why I wanted to try one of these style gaskets. The reusability was an added bonus as things are turning out.


Ha that's one on me, I’ve never had a motor leak for 3 full days after it’s been drained. Once the block was inverted this fixture hole had a bit of oil in it and like I said the entire side rail was wet. I did double check the oil pan as Ryan had mentioned earlier and it’s flat. Other than my rear main issues all I can figure is that using the short factory length oil pan bolts shot me in the foot, didn’t bite as well as I’d thought perhaps creating a pucker somehow? Rhymes with what I really think!!!


Moving on, temp sender is in place and yes still winning! Knocked out a new trans pan gasket with sealer and sealed up the vacuum modulator just in case it even thought of leaking. Already caught the super slow leaker on the front of the transfer case I had mentioned earlier as well.

Here we go for round #2!

[swamp rat]

Maybe a bit of thread sealant on the bolts if the thread passage is open to the crankcase?

I will always use my fingers and spread a thin film on the gasket before install and extra in the corners like you did. EDIT: Old school with old school gaskets..

Hang in there, I'm chasing my tail with the bondo work i'm doing, i swear the low spots are alive and moving from one location to another!

[7dee2]

Thanks Mike, the sealer used was just on the block side 4 corners area and only where it looked like it had or could leak the seal against the pan side was very good.

So the K30 looks just like it did before, but happy to report it has not leaked a drop of anything for several weeks! Got it running again just in time to test this old 80lb factory gauge supplied by forum member tommys72 (thanks again Tom!). Almost pegs this gauge on cold startup, the pic is after it has run awhile reads very close to the other know good gauge we’ve been using.

[Dieselwrencher]

Brett, very nice! Yes, that snap-on chisel adapter is the one. It is pricey but can have multiple uses.

[swamp rat]

Good job Brett!

[7dee2]

Thanks you guys!


It is time to spin the frontend under its own power. I’d debated about rebuilding the front driveline as it’s in really good shape. But finally did decide to send it out for new sealed u-joints, it also got a new ball seal and the balance was checked.

All good except you would think I’d ask my vendors not to paint stuff and especially not over stuck on crud, labels, etc. so I’m cleaning, stripping, re-greasing and re-painting.

Just par as I fuss over most everything including what we send out!

[Dieselwrencher]

The front shaft should be good to go for a long while now. It looks great.

[7dee2]

Thanks Ryan, you know I should’ve mentioned while on my soap box that our vendor did do a good job, at a great price and I know they are a high volume shop. Probably lucky it got cleaned as well as it did!


No pics to post today just a couple of new video’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7XV4BRHrKo
Installed the newly serviced front drive line and spun our rebuilt D60 frontend. Cold start with fast idle and we get some pinion seal squeal (dry) going on towards the end of the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYsFCTa84uA
Next day, round 2, fired it up in neutral put it in drive and walked away to go get my camera. Let it run for about 25-30 minutes spinning in drive this time the pinion seal is happy & quiet. The old leaky Dixco oil pressure gauge we use did leave a drop on the floor.

[First c10]

Looking and sounding good Brett!!!