oil pan gasket problems la 360

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big block

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Having trouble with oil pan gasket. Installed a fel pro cork and rubber ends gasket on a la 360 motor today. book says to torque the pan bolts to 15 ft lb. I did my first t tighting to 10 ft lbs and the gaskets squeezed out the sides under the pan IN about 6 places. these were fel pro gaskets but had been siting around for about 6 years. Can gaskets go bad or too much torque on the bolts or ? The pan is 1 of the cheap chrome pans from jegs. any suggestions or anyone got a good oil pan to fit a 360 in a 1974 Plymouth duster for sale? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Cork gaskets should go on dry. Definitely don't put silicon on them, as it makes them slick and they push out much easier.
 
yellow rose said:
Cork gaskets should go on dry. Definitely don't put silicon on them, as it makes them slick and they push out much easier.
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I did use plenty of sealer on both sides of the cork. I guess I,ll try some more gaskets tomorrow. What aboult the torque on the bolts?15 foot lbs seems like a lot on such a small bolt.
Thanks
 
If you can't find gaskcinch, go to a car parts place and look in the sealant section. Any type of a sticky (for lack of a better word) sealer will work OK. You do not want to use silicone on cork. I 'stick' the cork gaskets to the oil pan and valve covers. After the gasket 'glue' sets, the cork gaskets will seal well and will not squish out.
 
I find the following works 100% with Felpro cork or Felpro Cork/rubber gaskets. Glue the cork down to the block, not pan, with monkey snot ( 3M yellow contact cement) . Only use a tab of silicone where the cork meets the rubber in each corner. No other sealer is required.. Torque the bolts from the center out in 3 stages using an inch pound torque wrench. You should be fine. I don't believe Felpro makes a "PermaDry Plus" gasket with torque limiters for this applications but if they do buy it!. The PermaDry gasket gasket goes on completely dry & eliminates over torqueing. Good luck with your project!
 
Do not torque the pan to a spec with the cork gaskets, you just tighten until you see the cork gasket start to compress and squeeze a little...

Too much torque will damage the gaskets...
 
krazykuda said:
Do not torque the pan to a spec with the cork gaskets, you just tighten until you see the cork gasket start to compress and squeeze a little...

Too much torque will damage the gaskets...
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Thanks Guys. I,ll go to NAPA today and get some gorilla snot and get the best gasket they have. I just got carried away with the silicone sealer because I,ve had problems with this oil pan leaking before. Cork gaskets it is.
 
I have used the felpro cork for years. I use a thin coat of indian head shellac on the cork, RTV black max oil resistance by permatex on the rubber ends, and i tighten by feel.... I've never used a torque wrench on a oil pan. Never a problem.
 
big block said:
Thanks Guys. I,ll go to NAPA today and get some gorilla snot and get the best gasket they have. I just got carried away with the silicone sealer because I,ve had problems with this oil pan leaking before. Cork gaskets it is.
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Gorilla snot works well. It's a ***** to get it apart at any time in the future. Let it tack up a bit before snugging up the bolts. Like mentioned above, watch the gasket and when you see it start to push out, stop. That's tight enough.


BTW, I always go back after several heat cycles and snug the pan bolts. You'd be surprised how quickly they can get loose because the cork will expand and contract a bit until it has had enough heat in it to settle down.
 
Mopar92 said:
Ha. I love how much opinion difference there is. Good luck original poster.
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Here's another one for the collection.
On pan rail gaskets I spray the block side of the gasket with contact cement and stick it to the block.
No need to do the block because the spray is tacky enough that it stays.
Then a 1/8 or so bead of RTV on the pan rails staying inside the bolt holes.
Front and rear pan seals get a small bead of RTV on both sides.
 
I've never seen a "technical editor" or "tech support" say not to use a torque wrench before? LOL. That's a first for me. Obviously never take a bolt(s) past the point where a gasket will move, common sense isn't it? Every situation is different depending on oil pan, valve cover distortion ect. Clearly if an oil pan, valve cover, timing cover whatever is not straight gasket contact areas will not be consistent. Anyway lots of different methods out there to seal, I was just throwing out my way that has worked since 1980 with Felpro blue stripe gaskets. Choose your poison & good luck with your project!
 
I tore down an '89 360 a while ago, and it had side gaskets with 2 thin layers of cork bonded to a steel liner. It wasn't any thicker than a regular cork gasket, and didn't look homemade. Literally rolled it up coming off the pan rail.
 
Also with the chrome pan - scuffing the gasket surface a little bit helps the bite too. I glue the gaskets to the pan using gorilla snot, a few dabs of silicone on the transitions once the adhesive dries, and assembl making sure all surfaces were clean and free of any oil, including from your skin.
 
Hey guys - I didn't want to start a whole new thread for what I have to ask, because it is the same ole same ole oil pan gasket topic. So I'm dredging up this thread.

I read a whole bunch of threads on the ole oil pan gasket, and post #16 above mentions something interesting. The Milidon 1 piece gasket. I believe I read in another thread that a guy used this 1 piece and had no leaks. It was near the end of the thread and I didn't see any follow up or questions to it.

I'm about to replace the oil pan gasket on the Scamp (LA 360), as of course I have a leak. Not horrible, but more than annoying.

Is it just me? Or is this one piece gasket not the way to go... JEGS 210495: One-Piece Oil Pan Gasket 1970-1990 Small Block Chrysler 360 | JEGS
 
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The right stuff, wipe it all down with alchohol, no seals or gaskets and put nice crayon sized bead around he whole thing, then finger the bolts down evenly all round till right stuff is bulging out the sides a bit. Let set for 1 hr, tben lightly snug bolts.


Let me know if that actually works. LOL
 
After using Felpro black RTV and fiber gaskets last time on both oil and trans pans, I had to use a paint scraper and a hammer to get them off! (and they both still leaked) Never again! Luckily the were out of the car, or I would have lost my mind!

Not an expert, far from it, but this is what worked for me -

I used plain cork Felpro/Victor Reinze.
(Ordered Felpro from Rock Auto and the came in Victor Reinze packaging)

I only used just a VERY light, translucent smear of Ultra Gray on the cork just to stick them to the pan, installed the front rubber to the pan dry, and the rear on the block dry, a SMALL dab on each corner intersection, and nothing on the block side of the cork, or anywhere else on the rubber ends.
I used Permatex blue GEL thread locker on all bolts, and went just past snug, maybe 1/2 turn.

No leaks!

I will NEVER slather a bunch of goo on gaskets again!
 
I like the milodon crush proof gaskets. They seem to work well for me.

I'm interested in that one piece gasket from jegs... are you certain that is for an LA motor and not a magnum? Reading the comments on jegs one guy was having issues fitting an LA oil pan.
 
furrystump said:
Milodon makes a 1 piece rubber gasket with steel torque limiting inserts.
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in LA? I know Magnums came like that and there is a way to use magnums in this 360 app. If your going to glue anything, glue it to the pan, not the block. Whats easier to chisel off, the block above you or the pan on a bench?
 
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