Oil pan gasket for 86 on up 350

[JL8Jeff]

So the ZZ3 motor in my jet boat is leaking oil around the oil pan gasket where it meets the timing cover. It has a metal timing cover, not plastic like some of the ZZ4 motors have. There is no room to drop the pan in the boat so I need to pull the motor out to do it. I've been reading about people leaving the new gasket dry vs putting some sealant on the corners. I ordered the Fel-pro 1 piece gasket and I think the installation instructions say to leave it dry. Anybody have good or bad experience with or without sealant? I can't see any sign of there being sealant on the corners so it might be the original pan gasket from the factory.

[DirtyBird]

I put rtv on the the corners where timing cover and rms housinf meets the block. I used to use international rtv but now im using ford ta-31 rtv

[JL8Jeff]

I just found out that there is oil leaking out from around the oil pan drain plug as well. That looks like where the majority of the oil is coming from. There is definitely some oil dripping from around the timing cover and pan gasket but if the drain plug is the big issue, it should be easier (assuming the pan isn't messed up) to address that first and hold off on the pan gasket until next season.

[BonzoHansen]

if you need a pan i might have one

[PolarBear]

I definitely have a one piece RMS SBC pan too

[JL8Jeff]

Well that was fun draining the oil. I have one of those vacuum pumps to pull oil through the dipstick tube but it only pulled about a quart out. I couldn't get the tube to go down any further so that doesn't make much sense unless the pan has some baffling that I don't know about. I put a tinfoil pan under the engine and drained some oil about 1/2 quart at a time and then had to vacuum the oil out of the tinfoil pan. Finally got it drained. The pan looks fine. The drain plug has a copper washer/gasket that looks a little worn. So should I get a new copper washer/gasket or get a nylon one?

[The_Bishop]

Personally, I'd do a nylon one. Way less torque to get a good seal.

[JL8Jeff]

I don't like the drain plug, it doesn't look like a stock one so I ordered a plug with the nylon gasket from Napa and it should be in tomorrow morning.

[PolarBear]

I don't like the drain plug,

:kneeslap: The plug you'll only see if you take it out of the pan?

[JL8Jeff]

:kneeslap: The plug you'll only see if you take it out of the pan?

It looks more like a bolt than a drain plug, it doesn't have the shoulder to it which helps in sealing. It is magnetic though.

[PolarBear]

It looks more like a bolt than a drain plug, it doesn't have the shoulder to it which helps in sealing. It is magnetic though.

If the washer is thick enough and sealing, it shouldn't really matter. I do like the bolts with flange heads, which I think is what you're wanting?