I'm changing the oil pan on my 1973 Road Runner, 318 4 speed car because the old one developed a rust hole in it (Ohio, go figure). The engine's in the car and I have a decent, used pan and new cork gasket set. I've never changed the pan while the engine's in the car and I've never changed a small block pan. Is this straitforward, or should I expect problems?

1. Do I have to loosen engine mounts, loosen or remove timing chain cover, or just drop the pan and put the new pan on?

2. Do I use Permatex on the round, rubber end gaskets or leave them bare?

Thanks for any help. I just want to get it running again this week and drive the old rust-bucket to the B/E&A Moparts gathering in NE Ohio next weekend. It's a living, winter-beater parts car, but has been disabled the past few years with an oil pan, brake line, and ventilated floorboard.

Seperate the draglink and try to swing it out of the way.I would loosen the motor mount too if needed If the K is not bent you should be able to get the pan out with a bit of work. Check the oil pump pickup for valve seals etc and cleanout. I would glue the cork gasket to pan or use sewing thread to tie it down. Coat it with spray gasket sealer and use the sealer or permatex on the rubber end seals make sure its lined up or you will end up doing it over again Good luck.

If the hole is not big I would drain pan and JB weld it. let set for 24 hours and go from there but the temp needs to be at least 60 degrees

You'll want to raise the eng a bit because of pickup interference, I use bottle jacks on each mtr mt area and I have the driveshaft front yoke, the end in the trans it's ujoint parallel to the ground so no binding so the tailshaft can pivot downward quite aways. Use the correct front rear gaskets w locating nubs. Put a wide/thin swath of permatex around the pan metal perimeter then lock in the front/rear neoprene gaskets then set on the cork side gaskets then another thin/wide swath of permatex around the gasket perimeter on top of the 4 gaskets then the pan/gasket assy is ready to be fitted up to the block. Leave the timing cover alone. #1, surfaces clean/free from debris. torque the pan evenly/medium snug from side to side in MANY steps, let set up overnight recheck torques the next day EDIT use slightly more gasket cement on both sides of the front/rear neoprene gaskets than the thin wide swath on the side cork gaskets