I'm just about to put my oil pan back on my '85 GT 2.8 to replace the gasket. Should I put RTV on both sides of the gasket, engine and pan sides? I assume I should be careful not to put too much on or it will end up in the oil?

The problem with RTV on both sides of the pan gasket is that it acts like a lubricant and can cause the gasket to slide out when the bolts are torqued. I've always used spray glue to stick the gasket to the pan so it stays in position when installing the pan. I'd use a little RTV in the corners but that's it.

[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 09-03-2012).]

As far as the pan gasket goes, I use Permatex Aviation form a gasket.
It glues down well, but still allows movement to align.
It cleans up well with alcohol.
If you need to hold down the gasket while installing, I use sewing thread to tie it down.

I used RTV on both sides when I did mine. I just snugged the bolts so everything was sealed for sure and torqued them the next day. Not good if you're in a rush, but time was on my side.

Well, some motors are assembled with RTV only.

I read a few threads where people said they took the pan off and found no gasket, just RTV, so I suppose it's possible to get a good seal without a gasket at all, but I already have the Fel-Pro cork/rubber gasket set.. I'm hoping the weather is decent tomorrow and I'll finger tighten everything in place, and hopefully give the RTV at least a few hours to get tacky and then torque to spec.

Permantex makes a spray tube of RTV that you use by itself with no gasket. My Sebring barely has any gaskets anywhere at all. Not oil pan, trans pan, valve covers...... I didnt have any gasket adhesive when I put a pan on a Thunderbird I had, so I used some spray glue. It worked great until 10 mins after the engine warmed up the first time. Oil started leaking out and kept getting worse for next 30 mins. I looked under the car and the glue got slick and nearly the whole cork pan gasket slid out. I had to lift the engine back up, remove the pan and do it all over again with the right stuff.

I just did my 4 cyl and used black permatex high heat (Ithink it was up to 650 Deg) from O'Rielly's. Think it was about $7.00 or so.

yup, RTV, or now they sell an immediate use RTV in a tube. I still let it cure overnight.

I was hoping to get this completed this morning, but it's pi**ing down rain and forecast says it will last until 8:00 tonight. Should I be worried about leaving my crank exposed this long, especially in damp weather? Is there something I can do, like spray some lubricant on everything before I put the oil pan back on?

Time for a complete rebuild... JUST KIDDING!!!
If there is an orange tint to anything, I would be surprised.
It doesn't hurt to look, But even if it had a light dusting of orange, it won't be bad to button it up...
Now, if there were scales and flakes of rust, I would be worried...

If your worried about rust for a few days, maybe just spray a bit of lube on the journals.

The rain has finally stopped and the forecast for tomorrow is sunny, so I should be able to get it finished. In the meantime, I cleaned up the pan and painted it with header paint.

Found out the that the gasket is NOT symmetrical from side to side. As I tried to line it up with the block, it didn't seem to fit quite right, and there were a couple of holes in the gasket that aren't in my pan or block. I figured it was the wrong gasket so I returned it and went to a different part store. As we looked at the pictures he pointed out that the bolt holes on the sides of the pan aren't in line and he asked me if I tried flipping the gasket over..... Of course I hadn't.......

Long story short, the RTV had already started to cure on the gasket, so it's useless and I now have to wait 3+ hours to get a new one. Lesson learned the hard way

[This message has been edited by NetCam (edited 09-05-2012).]

quote Originally posted by NetCam: Found out the that the gasket is NOT symmetrical from side to side. As I tried to line it up with the block, it didn't seem to fit quite right, and there were a couple of holes in the gasket that aren't in my pan or block. I figured it was the wrong gasket so I returned it and went to a different part store. As we looked at the pictures he pointed out that the bolt holes on the sides of the pan aren't in line and he asked me if I tried flipping the gasket over..... Of course I hadn't....... Long story short, the RTV had already started to cure on the gasket, so it's useless and I now have to wait 3+ hours to get a new one. Lesson learned the hard way

I've learned the hard way, not to use too much RTV. the best thing to do is to just put a little bead on there, and then work it in with your fingers. I guess the best way to explain it is that you want the gasket to be saturated with it... not covered in it... so work it into the gasket, but you DO NOT want to have essentially a continuous bead of RTV... that's waay too much. I used to just run a continuous bead of RTV all around (on both sides) and it's wwaaaaaaay too much. Just put a couple of dots all the way around, and then work it in with your finger, removing any excess. Then you can stick it to the bottom of the pan. Then, after letting it dry... you then do the same thing to the other side of the gasket before you bolt it up.

As someone else said... you don't want it to make the gasket so slick that it will slide out when you tighten down the oil pan. With a good gasket, you might just be better off using a spray-gasket adhesive from 3M, and then using a little bit of blue lock-tite on the pan bolts.