Tim Wildey; Oil level & leaker.

Posted by Mike Flanagan on March 22, 1998 at 09:48:18

Tim, thanks for the email. I will answer your question on the pan gasket here for all to see.
Installing the pan gasket on the Model A while the engine is in the car and doing so in a manner that sufficiently dries up the leaks is definately an acquired talent. As I said before.
If you will study the gaskets as supplied you will see from the configuration of the gaskets that a sequence of installation is required. The gasket that surrounds the pan to engine mating surface has a tab that "gosinta" the groove on the rear main cap. This gasket must be installed on the bottom of the engine before the cork seal is installed on the bottom of the rear main cap.
Getting this gasket to stay in place on the bottom of the block while you install the cork and then the pan is the trick. If trick it is. I use as "gooey" a sealant as I can find and coat the upper side of the pan gasket liberally. Then position the gasket on the bottom of the block and hold in place until the sealent sufficiently tacks up and will hold the gasket in place. This allows you to get the tab into the slot. Next I slather the cork for the rear main cap in the same "gooey" stuff and force it into the slot. It should be a little wider than the slot by design and must be compressed and forced into the slot. The cork is always to long and must be cut to fit. Careful not to cut to much as this will leave a hole that is a natural passage for oil. I cut it a little long and let the pan smash the excess.
Next step is the pan. Another neat trick. I don't use gasket sealer on the pan. I just coat with a thin layer of grease and it seems to seal fine. In my case I am a little gimpy on the right side so I must use an old Indian trick and sneak up on the oil pan operation as it were. Once I have worked the pan around the tie rod, oil pump and other obstructions (a little swearing always is beneficial during this operation) I use a strategically placed floor jack under the bung plug on the pan to push the oil pan up against the block. The spring on the bottom of the oil pump is the miscreant here, it trys to push the pan away from the block and I simply can't hold the pan and start the bolts absent a little trickery. Start a few bolts around the pan and tighten snug. Now take a flashlight and inspect the cork around the rear main cap. If this cork is in place and looks as if it will seal then in go the rest of the bolts and presto. It's in there!
Another tip that makes the oil pan a little easier to remove. On some cars, one of mine being particularly badly afflicted, the front cross member conflicts with removing the bolts in the pan adjacent to the front crankshaft seal. Can't get a socket in there. I use a long bolt with a nut run up to the end of the threads and a jam nut under it. These two nuts seal the pan while the bolt head is down a couple inches so a socket or wrench can be applied at a later date. A holdover trick from the Hotrodder days. Remember the Chevy (ptuey) rocker arm covers and the quick removal bolts?
To hold the oil pump in place while all this is going on a 3/8 fine thread bolt can be used in the hole just above the bottom of the block. Be careful as the threads in the block are pipe threads and if you try to tighten the bolt you'll phenork the them. I use a 1/8 pipe tap and screw it in until it touches the oil pump.
Hopefully this will help... but remember, no matter what you do, like a Harley, the only time a Model A leaks no oil is when there is none to leak.
God Speed Under 50.
The Model A Fool.

Follow Ups:
Thanks to Mike Tim 'Wildey March 22, 1998 at 13:39:32(0)

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