VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 frt mount & oil pan gasket, 49 3600 w/216

The front plate is wallowed out where the carriage bolts came thru. I made a
plate out of 1"x1/8 flat stock since there are large holes in the plate and
I'm not sure that just washers would hold well.. I don't have access to a
welder and am trying to think of a way to keep the head of the bolts from
turning after I reinstall the balancer. I could put a lock washer under the
head of the bolt, or try to stake them in place. I'm more concerned about
down the road, when the new rubber compresses and I need to tighten the
bolts. I don't want to pull the balancer just to tighten the motor mounts.
It appears that the front motor mount has a top metal piece, a bottom metal
piece that holds the rubber mount the vendors sell. The top piece is very
worn where the bolts came thru, and the old mount had a metal piece that the
bolts came thu with a rectangular shape probably built into the rubber. The
new rubber is just rubber. I'm considering putting a couple of large washers
over the round rubber areas that protrude thru the top plate. This may raise
the height of the motor and the manual says don't shim!?. What to do??
I've glued the oil pan gasket to the pan, and am going to install tonight.
The sides of the pan should not be a problem, but the rounded ends concern
me. Do I need to use any additional sealer at the ends, or leave the cork
gasket dry? I know there might be different opinions, but I sure don't want
to have to pull the pan off twice.
Dave

Oil pan gasket--Do not glue gasket to the pan.Correct proceedure-the side gaskets MUST be installed to the ENGINE BLOCK FIRST.I use grease to hold them up in place.Then the end main bearing cap corks are installed.I also use grease to retain them.The ends of the corks must overlap the side gaskets where they meet.If gasket is attached to the pan first this is not possible.I put a small drop of RTV Silicone sealant at each joint where the end corks meet the side gaskets.Any additional sealers are not needed.I find that the modern gaskets are rather thick and stiff and tend to leak after a day or two.Retightening cures that problem.

It is helpful to thread a long 1/4" stud in a block pan bolt hole on each side.They help to guide the pan into the correct position when it raises up and meets the gaskets.Also less chance of moving the gaskets out of positon.Sawing off the heads of two 1/4" caps screws -about 2" long work well

The bolts in the front mounting plate were originally permenantly secured to the front plate.They were like a carriage bolt staked in place.May not be possible but welding in new bolts would be the best.Anything other than that would be a trial and error experiment.Wouldnt worry about raising the front of the engine an extra 1/8" or so-what ever it takes to hold the bolts in place and prevent them from turning.