Four piece oil pan gasket question

[straight6chevyguy]

Currently rebuilding a Chevy 250 i6. I am Ready to put the oil pan on and have a question about the four piece gasket. Does the cork rubber gasket lay on top of the tab of the rubber timeing cover to oil pan gasket? I know my repair manual says to cut off the tabs when replacing the time cover gaskets with the oil pan still on the engine but I can't seem to find clear info on the complete procedure for the oil pan.

So do I cut the tabs or leave them?
If I leave them does the cork rubber gasket lay on top?
I have never done this before and just want to make sure I get it right.

[AussieinNC]

The cork gaskets go under the tips of the rubber end gaskets. I always use a little silicon gasket sealer under the rubber ends to ensure they dont move during installation.

Use a crossover tightening sequence and pull the pan bolts down in three of four passes....

One item often overlooked is to ensure the bolt holes in the oil pan are not cone shaped above the surface of the pan rail. If they are, place the pan rail on a bench edge with the cone up and tap the hole surface back down flat with the rail.

Same goes for oil pans on an auto transmission...I often see the pans leaking after a filter change because of the pan rail not being flat.

[straight6chevyguy]

Ok, thank you!

[straight6chevyguy]

So I'm must be making this harder than it needs to be but really don't want to mess this up.
I'm assuming when you say the cork goes under the rubber tabs we are looking at the block right? Because it would be opposite if looking at the pan? Just me thinking to hard...

Just to make this easier for everyone I'll just post some pics and you can tell me which is correct.

[straight6chevyguy]

#1 : from my view, the cork under the rubber.

[straight6chevyguy]

#2: from my view, the cork on top of the rubber.

[AussieinNC]

Ok, with those gaskets your view #2 is correct....

There are other gasket styles with munched notches in both the cork and the rubber....yours appear to ba n "improved" design.

Make sure you put some RTV gasket sealer both on the block under the rubber tab and between the rubber tab and the cork gasket....

I assume you are gluing the cork gaskets to the block....I use permatex on all cork gasket to cast iron installations....

Do not over torque the bolts...I usually let is setup up overnight with just a snug down then next morning I pull the bolts down to torque.

You are doing great! and remember, the only dumb questions are the ones that dont get asked !

[straight6chevyguy]

Thank you very much!
One more question, should I rtv the rubber gaskets to the block or will I be ok without it?
I was planning on putting rtv on both the rubber and cork gaskets but don't want to mess up anything
By putting it on anything that's not supposed to have it.

[AussieinNC]

I use permatex gasket cement on the cast iron block rails, rtv on the rubber end seals and usually a little rtv on the pan rails.

Its more important to just snug the pan down first and not squeeze out the gaskets until the cement and rtv have taken a set....

Obviously the pan rails and block rails should be clean of any oils or grease etc...wipe the areas down with a little brake cleaner on a clean non lint cloth....

[straight6chevyguy]

Thanks again!