Oil pan gaskets arrived and pan is installed. Added 5 qts oil and found the level at the full mark with the dipstick inserted to the little notch area. I tack welded the little round dipstick tube cover right there at the notch. No more problems with pencil marks and fingers holding the little doodad in place while I inspected the oil line on the dipstick. If the dipstick tags the bottom of the pan as before, almost an inch deeper, then five qts read high above the full mark, You’ll probably have less than four qts to read full (I didn’t check that though).
Oil pan gasket was replaced due to the front leaking, the front curved section. Last time, I used the rubber curved piece from Best Gasket, and installed with the block upside down on the engine stand. Perfect conditions right? Unknowingly, it still slipped sideways when I installed the pan. This time I used Mahle cork gaskets with the engine installed. Unbolted the front motor mount, raised the front of the engine an inch, used a little 3M spray glue and glued the cork gasket to the pan before slipping it up in place. Still a difficult insertion, but good now. Did not use any gasket adhesive (Permatex Ultra Black) except in the four corners where the short curved gaskets meet the long flat gaskets.
