Pan Gasket Sealants

Posted by Glen Weilbaker on March 16, 1998 at 08:47:45

In Reply to: Timing Cover Rope Seal Revisited; Head and Pan Gasket Sealants
posted by Gordon Biggar on March 15, 1998 at 18:45:24

Gordon,
In response to your oil pan question, RTV reacts upon the contact of oil and changes it physical properties, it becomes gooey and scrungy brittle, weird decsription but this is what I notice when I get engines in using it. I've found a fresh tube of Permatex #2, flexible compound to work the best for the oil pan. One of the largest overlooked details for the oil pan is straightening the pan flanges that were deformed from over tightened bolts. It should not take a lot of sealer, enough to hold the gasket. Too much is deplaced when compressed then form the "blobs" that could break off on the inside. One thing I've noticed with the A gaskets, they require retighten after some use, must be due the thickness of the gaskets. You probaby already know most of this but this is for others reading.
Good Luck for Easter,
GW

: Many thanks to those of you who have corroborated with me concerning the installation of the timing cover seal.
: My final solution -- which worked (finally!) -- was a variant of the socket method for compressing the seal.I took a washer that was 5/16ths of an inch in thickness and 1.75 inches in diameter.(It was originally an AMC cam bearing spacer.) A few good whacks with a brass hammer were sufficient enough to compress the seal so that with the (gentle) use of a long-handled screwdriver I was able to position the cover for bolting.
: I suppose that the thick washer was able to deliver a concentrated amount of compression that a socket was unable to accomplish.A frustrating exercise, nonetheless.
: I also learned that all rope gaskets are not necessarily one-half inch in diameter.I had access to a number of them, which I miced (miked?), and found a variation of some .060".The one I used was also nearly .030" thinner in diameter than the one I started with. Every bit of clearance helps!
: In reference to the oil pan gasket, is Permatex a more efficient compound to employ than RTV sealant, or doesn't it make any difference?
: In reference to the head gasket, I have received just about all the advice that must exist on the subject!One says soak it in water overnight; another says to apply it to the block without using any gasket sealant whatseoever, etc., etc.Do y'all care to offer some advice on this one.Your previous thoughts have been outstanding to date.I might even get this animal back on the road by Easter...
: I also have a write-up on this endeavor with black-and-white graphics for those of you who expressed an interest (I've already lost one address).(DJ's is in the mail, and South African coinage of the realm is not recognized in Texas, so your's is a freebee, too...)
: Thanks for all of the ongoing help.It's really made a difference.
: Gordon Biggar
: Houston, Texas

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