When building my 302, I installed a ribbed aluminum oil pan using a cork gasket. I have developed an oil leak and was thinking about installing a one piece rubber gasket. Has anyone used one of these instead of the traditional 4 piece set? If so, are there any issues or suggestions? I'll be installing it without pulling the motor. Thanks.
I installed the one piece gasket and found it to be a very easy install with motor still in the car. The gasket comes with 4 pins that you stick in bolt holes to hold it in place and work very good. Had to remove the under engine brace and took the 2 bolts out of the idler arm and dropped it down then pan comes out easily
Sounds good. I've pulled the oil pan out of mine when the old 302 was still in it and all I had to do was remove one side of the stabilizer bar and swing it out of the way and the oil pan came right out.
When you installed yours, did you use sealant in the corners? I was thinking that would be a safe measure.
No I did not use any sealant. I did make sure that the pan rails were flat and not dimpled in by over tightening pan bolts from previous rebuild by previous owner. This will be the only type I will ever use from now on, if you ever have to pull pan off again it should be no problem
Maybe you're done with this project already but my best advice is to ALWAYS use very small dabs of RTV or Hylomar at timing chain cover/5th main bearing cap corners. This is where the tabs for the gasket end seals notch into. Otherwise when installed completely dry as Felpro rec's, as the blowby increases over time(especially if you have OEM rings and rev it a lot) the corners will eventually start to weep and gather dust. I typically apply small RTV dabs into the notches themselves(just enough to fill the tangs but not enough to squish out excessively) after minimally applying Hylomar to main cap/block mating surfaces during final main cap installation. PS. The 1 piece gaskets will be thicker and more compliant but be sure to confirm the pans flatness to know exactly how things will fit together. Good luck with it!
