Keeping oil pan gaskets in place while installing the oil pan on six cylinder Chevs can sometimes be a problem. Here is a very easy way I thought of and have used to prevent gaskets from dropping down just before you get the pan on (and the swearing that may follow ) 🙂: It has worked so well for me, I thought I would share it with the members of the VCCA.
Start by making 6 guide studs by cutting the heads off of six bolts the same thread size as your pan bolts (1/4”-20 on 216 engines). Be sure not to get them too short. Longer is better. Cut screw driver slots in the unthreaded ends of the bolts for easy removable if you like. Screw a guide stud into a hole near the center of where each side gasket will be installed. Now screw in a guide stud near the front and rear ends of the gaskets. Make sure there is about 3/8 inch of threads sticking out below the surface of block on each one.
Now find some cardboard. Not the thick “corrugated” kind, but rather the heavy “cardstock” type. Cut 6 rectangles about 1-1/2 inch by about 3 inches. Cut a slot no more than 1/8 inch wide by about 1 inch into one end of each rectangle as per the attached picture. See where I’m going? 🙂
Install a side gasket over the guide studs and slide the slot of a cardboard rectangle over the THREADED part of each stud, tight up against the bottom side of the gasket, with the UNSLOTTED end of the cardboard rectangle towards the OUTSIDE of the engine. This should hold the gasket safely in place.
Now install the end gaskets in the grooves in the main bearing caps with the ends of those end gaskets COVERING the ends of the side gaskets. This is important! The end gaskets can be wrapped around a pop can and secured with a rubber band overnight beforehand so they will have the proper curve to stay in place. I dampened them slightly when I wrapped them so they would take and hold the necessary curved shape as they dried.
Lift the oil pan into place and install bolts loosely in all of the empty holes.
Now, simply pull out the 6 cardboard rectangles.
Take out the 6 guide studs and install the remaining bolts. Tighten/torque to spec.
You should be able to use or not use gasket sealant/adhesive on the gaskets according to your own preference while using this method.
Hopefully this will make the job easier for others!
