rebuilding my 69 440HP. Putting oil pan on today. using felpro cork gaskets. glued first gasket to block w/ gaskacinch. then used permatex ultra black RTV to glue on windage tray and second gasket b/w windage tray and oil pan. hand tightened bolts and waited 2 hours and then was going to torque bolts down to 15 ft/lbs by going to 10 on all bolts first. on the first bolt before i hit 10 ft/lbs on the torque wrench the gasket between the tray and pan split and blew out (it was one of the front corner bolts). not knowing if this was salvageable I loosened the pan bolts and shot some more rtv in there and retightened finger tight. was going to let it set up over night. my thinking was i need to pull apart and replace the gaskets, but didn't want to rip apart in case i could save this.

So should i replace the gaskets? If i need to replace the gaskets is/was the way to avoid this from happening again to let the RTV set up with bolts finger tight overnight before final torquing? is there a better gasket option than felpro cork? was using as this came in my overhaul kit and would look similar to factory.

Mopar Performance has you covered with a better option: Black fibrous type gaskets available from you local Dodge dealer. I just bought 2 4 months ago when I rebuilt my 440/493.

Only use silicone where the rear main and timing cover meet up with the block, let the gasket do it's job. Nothing wrong with cork, but it's easy to over torque and split the gasket.

Why do peole think you need RTV and gaskets.That stuff turns cork to mush.I used the cheap MP gaskets that came with the MP tray.Been together 10 years and no leaks.I use the Milidon tray on my 440.I use 3 M weather strip yellow to hold the gaskets to the tray.Makes for an easy clean up if you have to replace them.Just clean the tray and not the block or pan.Rocky

I bought mine from Summit or Jegs. Black fiber gaskets that don't split or squeeze out. Holding good so far.

The best gaskets are the ones from Superformance. Member RoadHazard owns the company.

Any gasket will work as long as the pan flange is square and you don't get carried away tightening the bolts.Ever take a pan from an unmolested motor and find any sealer ?

Just ordered the MP gaskets from my local dodge dealer. going to gaskacinch them to the windage tray and use a spot of RTV around the real seal retainer and timing cover seams on the lower gasket.

once dry do you still tighten these down to 15 ft pounds? feels like a fair amount of pressure since there are so many flexible layers built up.

Thanks for the replies.