1970 340 oil pan gasket help

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Brendan Moroney

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I just want to get some advise on installing oil pan gasket onto a 1970 340 engine. The crummy cork gaskets are junk! does anyone make a rubber style gasket to fit this? what torque values does anyone recommend for the oil pan bolts where it will not crush and break the &^*ing cork ones? Using factory specs and the gasket crushed and broke. I am sure it is going to leak so before installing another one hoping someone knows if there is a better alternative to the cork one.
 
You don't tighten the cork gasket to factory specs. Just gently tighten it until you see some of the gasket spread near the bolt, then go to the next one.

then one more time to make sure one didn't loosen as the others were tightened and you should be ok...

Make sure to work from the center bolts outward when tightening...
 
well that figures. I thought the value seemed pretty tight but against my better judgement figured I would defer to the factory spec. Thanks... I guess I am getting a new gasket so there will be a round two.
 
there are much better gaskets, cork sucks everywhere! what did the factory use torqued to factory specs? this has been here before-moparperformance gasket, fel pro hp, mrgasket ultraseal, etc. and another trick that was sold by moparperf. is bolts that are precoated with a loctite type goo that is dry before install-that way U do not need to overtighten and do not need to worry about loosening
 
make sure your bolt holes on the pan arent squished down from previous overtightening. You need as flat a rail as possible on the pan.
 
I wish I had read this a year ago. Back then I took the pan off after having already torqued it down after the cork gasket slipped out under pressure in one corner. The second time it did the same thing to me, but I said the heck with it and installed the motor on a wing and a prayer. What I still want to know is why/how the factory torque spec seems to be wrong?
 
The factory manual called out for 15 ft/lbs which is ridiculously high for cork in my estimation. like I said I was going to go less but went against better judgement.
 
Torque specs are based on the minimum to keep tension on the threads. More precisely to keep threads deformed in the elastic range. Otherwise they naturally back out with vibration.
Any gasket material between bolted surfaces that is not completely compressed, or over time flows/shrinks/etc, and there is a problem.

The thick soft gaskets are often an extra problem because the pan deforms, but I mostly hate cork infill because its tedious to remove all the dried crumbly bits.

Felpro SB Oil Pan Gasket Sets, Performance (not cork)
 
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