Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Well the fel-pro blueline one piece pan gasket I used hasn’t lived up to the hype. With only a couple hundred kilometres on the truck, my rebuilt 1968 327 is leaking from the front and rear area of the pan.

Anybody used one of these with success? You guys using silicone with them? I can’t recall if I used any at the corners.

I just ordered up a new finned aluminum oil pan that is hopefully a step up over the old tin one, not stoked to do the pan gasket with the engine in the truck.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Let me know if you can get the pan out without removing engine, I have to remove mine in the spring and dread the thought of removing just to take off the pan.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Will do. I took a look lastnight and it looks like there will be room, but it’ll be tight for sure.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

If you jack the motor up a couple inches it will come out. Be mindful of the distributor cap and the bottom rad hose.
I slide a 2x2 between the mount and tower to give enough room.
Sometimes you need to hand crank the motor over enough to swing the front rod journal up out of the way.
And always remove the negative battery cable. No sparks wanted.
With an old or new pan I’ve got in the habit of installing them dry. Just bolted on lightly at the four corners. Put a small flashlight inside the pan and you’ll easily be able to see any gaps on the sides and how parallel the gap is on the ends.
I’ve had stock and aluminum pans not fit well.
At least with steel you can wack them back into shape.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Sounds like you’ve done this a couple times. Thats the kind of useful advice I was looking for, thanks Geezer.

With what I just spent on the aluminum pan I’m hoping it fits nice. I’m not sure I can bring myself to install it again dry though, I’ll use the light trick and see how it looks.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

I did a pan on a 396 about 4 times before I used the flashlight trick. Found a pinch point at the back. Used a 3 inch hunk of pipe and a 3 lb finishing hammer to clearance it.
My aluminum pan I had I couldn’t get to seal. It got used though. Flipped it upside down and attached some wheels on it from a golf cart and the neighbourhood tikes pushed each other around on it. It got of miles put on it that way!

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

I've used the Permatex blue one-piece pan gasket numerous times with success. You do need to put a dab of silicone at the corners where the rear main seal housing and timing cover make a dip.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Haha, well I’ll either have a leak free truck or Xmas present for the kids.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Right on I’ll give that a shot. And maybe buy a Permatex gasket too.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Sorry; I'm tired today. I meant the Fel-Pro blue... with Permatex in the corners.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Haha no worries that makes more sense

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

I would be more concerned on how much the aluminium pan is going to expand vs a steel pan , being aluminium does expand 4 to 5 times more then steel , hopefully the pan comes with torque specs , this I find is the biggest reason why lots of people have a hard time with sealing Aluminium . when I gasket aluminum wether if its to steel or to plastic I use a sealer made by Permatex called THE RITE STUFF , I use the Black on Aluminium to steel and the grey on Aluminium to Plastic.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

My one piece gasket leaks at the front edge. I mistakenly thought I wouldn't need to use sealer like the old three piece gaskets. This is on a factory steel pan but with a plastic Vortec timing cover.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Dont forget to disconnect the exhaust pipes from the manifolds or headers. Made that mistake a couple times.

Fel Pro says not to use any RTV on their silicone rubber pan gaskets. I don't follow those instructions, I still use some on the end seals and in the corners. Its not the gasket will be damaged by RTV use. I just used Rite Stuff front and rear and in the corners on my 383. It has a stock pan and a cheap chrome timing cover. Shockingly, it didn't leak when I dyno tested it.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

I didn’t really consider that, I know these finned aluminum pans have been around since the 60’s when Cal Custom was making them. The Rite Stuff isn’t cheap but it’s worth it, will be using the black version.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Mine is leaking at the front too, I also followed the instructions and didn’t use any sealer. I’ll report back on how well it seals with the RTV.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Good call! I definitely would have forgotten to disconnect the manifolds.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

I have to raise the back of the engine to get my 4 speed out. Was in a hurry to replace a bad throw out bearing, forgot to unhook my headers and dented my oil pan in the process even using a 4x4 across it. One more thing to fix.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Well it looks like I got a ton of useful advice that I didn’t end up needing. I just dropped the pan off and didn’t need to raise the engine.

I did a front crossmember swap out of a ‘82 c20 back when I had it torn down and that must’ve increased my clearance. I wasn’t aware that would’ve changed anything.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

So were you able to eliminate the leaks?

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Well I just got the pan off an hour ago, so not yet. Plan to let the engine drip out over night and get everything cleaned up and installed tmrw with some Ultra Black.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

Good luck!

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

thank you for the info on not having to lift engine

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

No prob, but this might only be because I installed a c20 crossmember earlier.

Re: Fel-Pro blueline pan gasket
 

When I did mine on my C20 I had to raise the engine. Used a couple of 2x4's. Not a fun job but it worked.