Last one I did was with a pair of Felpro cork gaskets with spray adhesive on one side and dry on the other + a small amount of silicone on the rear seal and timing cover areas per directions. No leaks. It does require a flat pan.

If you are worried about flatness and do use silicone, it is important to install and tighten finger tight only, let it set up for several hours then tighten gently. Wet silicone can soften the gasket and acts as a lube making it split and squeeze out.

I notice that after a couple of heat cycles on a new engeine, the pan bolts tend to loosen and need to be retorqued.

I use regular old Felpro gaskets but applied black silicone to the pan rail of the block and then put my gasket on. Despite all the bolts being loose, I didn't have a single leak. I retorqued for good measure. The valve covers and transmission pan are the same way.

I do make sure all the surfaces are cleaned with brake parts cleaner first. I took great pains with the rear main seal cap and even ran a bead of black silicone on the inside of both edges where it meets the block.

My 505 is the first engine I've built that doesn't leak a drop!

Summit now has a silicone covered steel gasket like the 727 pan gaskets. It is 0.200 thick so that might cause problems or help with clearance depending on the situation.

I've tried all of the gaskets over the years and I think the best gasket depends on the pan. If you have a good solid pan rail then the Superformance gasket is a good bet.

I do have oil pan reinforcement rails available now as a product. I'll post a picture of them shortly.

That is the result of a soft gasket used to compensate for very irregular surfaces and is generally inexpensive. It will not retain bolt torque. Also tends to "wick" oil through the gasket causing external dampness that dust and dirt likes to cling to.

Put the #2585 pan gasket on my Charger Mule about 5 years ago. Bolts are still tight and no weeping through the gasket.

Thanx Greg

All Questions Answered

Peace

Everything is apart , cleaned up and ready to install

Bought the billet rear main seal retainer kit from Mancini racing

Should I use the supplied rear main seal from Mancini racing or I also bought the Superformance rear main seal when I purchased there oil pan gaskets , thinking of using there rear main seal with the Mancini billet retainer

Then obviously using the double side black rubber o rings supplied with Mancini kit

Anyways , any other tricks used installing this Mancini racing billet retainer before I button everything up today

Superformance rear main seal work with the Mancini racing billet retainer ?

Use the superperformance rear main seal, offset about 1/8" from the parting line.

I use the ultra gray between the block and girdle.

Sounds like the superperormance pan gaskets are the way to go.
I used the Fel-pros with steel core, but not really impressed with them.
I have the Jegs windage tray/gasket on a different engine and it sealed up great.

I think the girdle kit uses studs and has the bolts with serrated surface to hold the pan on? My girdle kit was the older one from BCR.

Anyhow, a bit of blue loc-tite will help the oil pan bolts / nuts from loosening.

ZERO leaks with this windage tray / gasket.....

Thanx

Many have reported that the Jegs wind age tray rubber o ring oil pan gasket will not work with the factory 402 oil pan , or any factory oil pan for that matter because the mating surface on the factory pans is not completely smooth flat , factory pans have those recessed areas

I'm running a stamped hemi pan with the plastic steel O ringed windage tray/ gasket with no leaks at all... Make sure the oil pan rail is flat and bolt It down ......... Easy

One picture says a thousand words,,,,,,,,

The Jegs windage tray/gasket works with the reproduction Hemi 6-quart oil pan.

Actually Jegs gets them from Magnum Automotive Group. Former Fel Pro guys that started there own gasket business

Rear main seal leaks 100 times worse now then the one it replaced

New 402 oil pan and superformance gaskets are awesome

Mancini racing billet retainer

Put black rtv on the ends where it contacts the block , side o rings go into holes in the retainer on the ends then swing around the sides

Used the superformance rear main seal ,seal lip on both halves facing inward towards the crank

Only thing I didn't do was silicone the sides of billet retainer because I thought that was the purpose of the double o rings , you know to keep oil from leaking by the o rings

But after some more research ???

Anyways I am beyond pissed

Any better o ring material for those side seals that I can pick up locally ??? They fit in the tiny holes on the end of retainer nicely to hold in place , but coming down the sides you have to keep them in place in the grooves while sliding down the retainer inward on the block , wish the rubber was a little wider

Black rtv or Copper on the sides of retainer , yes or no ???

Should I offset the rear seal more then a 1/8" so it's not flush with the parting line of block

Also the superformance rear main seal versus the Mancini rear seal supplied with kit , any differences ???

Sorry guys for all the questions , not a happy camper right now , missing out on a car show today

This is how I do it, no leaks always dry. In the car you will need a helper for the first test. Push the retainer up against the crank with the seal in the retainer, don't off set the seal. Measure the sides of the retainer to the block. Most likely the right and left sides will be different. Now install the bolts and remeasure. Did it change? If so open the bolt holes as they are off and pulling the seal off center. With this repaired (and it may take a different retainer). Personally I've found the stock retainer to work with no issues. Then follow this procedure. RTV along the the sides only. A small bead of anaerobic sealer between the cap and block. Fill the 45 channel at the back of the cap with RTV using a putty knife. This will be easier if the cut out in the crank flange is rotated to the side you're working on. Very important when using RTV on any surface to make sure it sticks. If you apply a thin film to both side with your finger it should stick to the surface. If it doesn't, just rolls off the surface is not clean enough. If you're careful and use a putty knife you may be able to remove the Super-Formance gasket with out ripping it. I service my race car motor by checking bearings every 100 passes and remove the pan and intake for inspection. As it uses a vacuum pump it needs to be sealed with absolutely no leaks. Hope this helps.
Doug

I started making oil pan rail reinforcements just because I saw a lot of guys having problems with stacked gaskets and the new rubber type gaskets. The steel pan will bend between the bolts and open up leaks. So now we're starting to put the rails on a lot of steel pan motors.

Thanx guys

Took it apart early this morning

Looked like oil getting past side retainer o rings , and I didn't clock the two piece seal like I thought . It was seated flush or parrellell with block lines

Not happy with my factory retainer ,, looks pretty beat up

Does Mopar or someone reproduce factory retainers ??? Hopefully i don't need to head in that direction

So found some other threads , research

I made sure this time I clocked the rear main seal itself , then did a dry fit with the billet retainer using the alignment rods

Did this dry fit a few times

However upon suggestion , I used black rtv on the sides of the billet retainer , and a little on the bottom ends

The superformance gaskets , I was able to use a putty knife on the four small spots of rtv to separate the gasket from the block . Sweet , came apart perfect , very very nice

Will fire it up tomorrow or in a few days

If this doesn't work

There will Bee a 71 Bee at the local dump

Sounds like your on top of it