VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 235 engine oil pump cover gasket

I am wondering if anyone can tell me what the correct thickness of the oil pump gasket should be. The reason I ask is I am helping a friend with an engine he bought at a swap meet that is suppose to be rebuilt. Anyhow I convinced him to start it up before we swapped it into his vehicle. When I started it we had 30 psi oil pressure with cold oil and this dropped to 15 psi when the engine warmed up. At this time we noted that the new oil was milky (an indication that we had coolant in the oil) I drained the oil and removed the pan in order to check out the block. I pressure tested the block and found that I had no leaks so I have to believe that the water was in the oil pan all along as apparantly he had to install oil as there was nome in it when he bought the engine. While I had the pan off it took the plate off the oil pump in order that I could clean it out along with all the oil lines. I made up a new oil pump cover gasket and reassembled the engine and we restarted it after installing new oil. At this time I only had 15 PSI oil pressure with cold oil and it drops to 5 psi when hot. My conclusion is that the only thing I changed was the oil pump cover gasket and because I used a thicker material this is why the change in the oil pressure. The oil now has no signs of coolant in it so am satisified that the reason for the oil contamination was due to condensation in the oil pan or there was some water in the pan before he installed the oil. I have tried to locate a new gasket but have been unable to locate one so this is why I am looking for some help on the original thickness of the gasket.

I assume you do not have the gasket you removed and can't check the thickness of it. If you can't find a new gasket I would try going as thin as possible that will allow the pump to turn free by hand.

See you down the back roads.

The thickness is not given but it was about the same as a heavy piece of paper.Will see if I can find a gasket and measure it.

My guess is that the by-pass valve in the oil pump is stuck open.This could have been caused by the water in the oil.Doubt if the gasket would make that much difference unless you used cardboard.

I have five new gaskets that were from engine gasket sets.They all measure .010" thick with a dial caliper.

Is this a rod dipper engine or a full pressure??

Thanks for all of your replies. I would have to say that it is a rod dipper engine as the rods have dippers on them. The thickness of the gasket material that I used was .029 inches and the thinnest that I have been able to locate is .014 inches. Measured with a micrometer. I am going to make a gasket from it and will know tomorrow if I corrected my problem.

Just to let you know that I made a new gasket from the .014 inch material, reinstalled the pump, pan and oil. Started it up and I now have 30 psi oil pressure with cold oil and it drops down to 12 psi at and idle with hot oil.

Thanks for the reply