Oil Pan Issues (won't fit/seal)

[Blue-genes]

I recently purchased an 85 k30, got her home and it spewed oil all over the driveway. the rear main. timing cover and pan were leaking. pulled the belts off and put a new timing cover on. put a fel-pro rear main two piece gasket in, new oil pump and buttoned it up. The existing oil pan was caved in from the bottom. thinking nothing of it i put a fel-pro one piece on it after cleaning the old cork and rtv off. bolted everything up and it leaked. bought a new oil pan(a $50 amazon pan) bolted it up with a new one piece...it leaked front and back. got a cork setup...it leaked. thinking the oil pan was out of spec I got a milodon stock look and performance replacement oil pan because its made in the USA. HERE IS THE DILEMMA

• I put the milodon pan up to the block with no gasket and it fits perfectly.
• I put the fel-pro(thick seal) one piece to the block. fits perfect
  
• I put the gasket on the pan and it doesn't fully sit flat at the edges of the timing chain and rear main contours. it sticks up about 1/8 on all 4 corners
  
• I put the gasket and pan up to the block and i'm able to rock the oil pan side to side because it pivots on the rear main and timing cover. its at least a quarter inch gap if held to one side.

What should I do? has anyone else experienced this? I don't want to bend my 2nd new pan and I DEFINITELY don't want to have to drop it a sixth time. My engine is a goodwrench 350

 

[QBuff02]

Are you putting silicone back in the corners where the pan meets the rear main "flange" and also where the pan meets the timing cover? We Always put some beads of silicone down on the corners on the front and rear of the pan where they mate up, otherwise you will have leaks. Also, I've seen where mismatched timing covers and oil pans don't work. I:E; the "trough" where the gaskets goes on the timing cover is too thick or too thin one way or another and the gasket will not sit right inside of it. Just did a 350 pan gasket where the chrome timing cover wouldn't work with a fel pro because the gasket was too wide for the cover, as it turned out the chrome timing cover was warped forward and out just a little bit so we replaced it with a stocker and it solved the problem. but always use a little grey silicone in the corners of the pan/gasket otherwise they'll be prone to leak. and check that the pan rails are straight as well, usually put them up flat on the work bench and make sure, otherwise that can cause some clamping issues when you torque it down. One other thing to check if you're going to be changing pans, shine a light through the drain plug hole and make sure that the oil pump pick up is in the right spot in comparison to the oil pan. if your original pan was dented in, the oil pump pickup could be pushed up and will sit farther away from the bottom of the pan than it should. Too much or not enough are both bad for an engine.. I should add that 3/8" is about perfect for clearance, maybe a touch more. Certainly never less!

 

[Blue-genes]

It is very possible it is the same issue you experienced. I put a chrome cover on so its very likely. ill check it out asap. otherwise I have been using RTV in the corners and how the directions say. as far as the pickup tube goes, I put a new one on when I re did the pump. The old one had a ton of cork chunks jammed up in the cover for the screen. Its depth is something i will definitely check. thank you!

 

[PrairieDrifter]

There is a thick and a thin oil pan gasket, make sure you have the right one. I believe the timing cover has to correlate with the oil pan also.

 

[highdesertrange]

yes there are 2 types. highdesertranger

 

[bucket]

That's a year split thing though I believe. Like '74-'75 was the switch.