Source of oil leak

[stope4]

Took the oil pan off the 402 last evening. The last owner glued the gasket to both sides using gasket sealer. It was a real pita. I beat the oil pan up pretty bad. Probably will need a new one. Couldn't figure out why anyone would put gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket. After scraping and cutting my hands up cleaning the block surface, I realized why this was done. The block side has a huge gouge in it where the gasket seals. The last owner must have figured using some type gasket sealer was the ticket. I think it worked because it didn't look like oil was leaking from that part of the pan. Looked like it was leaking on the opposite side in the rear corner. (typical location)

Now for my issue. I'm a little worried that the one piece gasket I'm going to use (without gasket sealer) will not seal properly in this area. The gouge is fairly small but very pronounced and noticeable. I was wondering if I could improve my chances of a seal if I filled the gouge beforehand with something like JB Weld. After doing this, I would then lightly sand the excess JB Weld around the gouge to make sure the gasket is touching metal except where the JB Weld is in the gouge. I am open to other suggestions. This is new territory for me.

[cruiserman]

How deep is the gouge? I probably wouldn't bother unless it was pretty deep, like 40mils or more.

If you're worried about it, the JB Weld trick sounds like a good idea.

[68gmsee]

I agree with the JB weld making sure the area is completly void of oil, etc.

Many years ago, I had a crack in an exhaust manifold in one of my other vehicles. I ground it down some and packed JB weld into it. It lasted until I got rid of the car.