'54 218 Oil Pan Saddle - Oil Sealing

[denmopar]

Hi all-

New to Mopar flathead internals, but have been turning wrenches for a few days now.( '54-55 Buicks used to be my thing.) Now it's simply a love affair with my old Belvedere.

I have a question regarding the oil pan gasketing and sealing.

Included in my Fel-Pro pan gasket set are two pieces of neoprene(?) rods about 1.5" long......I'm only guessing these may be to seal the junction of the front pan saddle, the rear of the timing chain cover and block rail????

I'd appreciate knowing for certain. I haven't removed the pan saddle yet, not being sure.....I only want to re-seal the pan once. The engine is in the car, running well except for the oil leakage. I am replacing the hardened rear main seal as precaution since I have the pan down. Rear main bearing insert looks nice and Plastigages @ .0015 so all is good there.

Also, there are no specifics regarding the trimming of the front and rear cork sections where they join the side rail pieces....Any sage advice with that, or just rely on my intuition?

I have only the run-o'-the-mill 46-54 Plymouth Service book which doesn't state much about the oil pan sealing. I've browsed all pages in the Tech section of this site with no results re: the matter.

Thanks in advance for any verification or correction to my SWAG or further tips for a successful sealing job..

[P15-D24]

Don't trim the pan cork gaskets. You can use thread through the bolt holes to help align the gasket on the pan.

The rubber rods go under the aluminum U bracket  (saddle). Don't trim them either. 

[Don Coatney]

I used gasket cement (ONE SIDE ONLY) on the pan gasket side pieces and grease only on the other side and the end pieces. By doing so it makes it very easy to install at you dont have to putz with bolt to gasket alignment. Another big plus is it is easy to remove the pan without replacing the gasket. As GTK mentioned dont trim the end pieces.

 

[denmopar]

Thanks a lot for the verification on those saddle seals. After pressing on the end seals, I see what you mean on the compressing them to pan's dimension ....Thanks again!

[54Illinois]

I have used some of the black RTV along with the cork on two pans...no leaks.

[HanksB3B]

Dodge Truck Manual:  Removal and Installation of Oil Pan 

 

[Frank's 49]

Hope somebody has a picture or diagram.  I am still confused about where the two small rubber 'dowels' go.  Just where is this saddle spoken of?  

 

Hate to admit it, but I trimmed the gaskets and now it leaks (didn't before, just needed an oil change after 15 years!).  

Before I do this again it would help to know where the dowels go.

[Don Coatney]

Wrong information.

[Frank's 49]

Looks like you sent the information for rear main bearings to me.  What I need to know about are the two little rubber pieces that come with FelPro 4250 C pan gasket set.   Just the little sections shown in  the middle.  (actually the new gasket set came with a big O-ring seal and instructions to cut out two small pieces).  

   

[Don Coatney]

Looks like you sent the information for rear main bearings to me.  

   

Sorry for sending the wrong stuff, I just un-sent it.

[Frank's 49]

thanks anyway, good try.  

Tomorrow I will warm up the garage and pull the pan again.  Maybe I can figure this out.  When I took it off the first time I did not notice the little pieces.  So there is a slight possibility the originals are still in there.  But I cleaned the pan pretty good and repainted it.  There was an incredible amount of sludge in the bottom.  Probably could have saved using about a quart of oil on each refill if I had left it alone. :-) 

[Desotodav]

From memory Frank, I believe that there are 2 small rubber pieces in the top the curved piece at the front end of the sump (which may be referred to as the saddle?) - see picture. I probably wouldn't remove this piece unless you had to though. There are 3 (or 4?) bolts that attach this piece, and a couple of them go through from the timing chain cover. I thought that I had more photos but I can't seem to find them. I couldn't find any good diagram from the manuals either.

 

EDIT:  I found where I previously spoke of this part Frank - see my post (#6) in this thread... http://p15-d24.com/topic/24068-oil-pan-gasket/?hl=%2Bfront+%2Bseal#entry237210  

Edited November 29, 2014 by Desotodav

[Frank's 49]

OK, that helps a lot.  I didn't remove anything but the oil pan, so my guess is the 'dowels' do not apply.  

Thanks a lot for the help.

[dpollo]

Those little pieces go between the " oil pan front end oil seal plate "  which is an arched casting which goes over the front main bearing and makes

a surface to seal the pan and the plate behind the timing gears.  It is not something you would want to remove as without further teardown, it would be impossible to

replace its gasket which is between the block and the plate ( which forms the front mount).  The little pieces go under the arched casting between it and the block so they are not needed for a simple pan gasket replacement.