Ok I have a 460 and I just bought a Ford Racing one piece rubber oil pan gasket. Was getting ready to start threading in bolts and noticed that the 2 bolts on front and back would not go in. I took it down and noticed that the 2 bolt holes on front and back were same size as the rest and not bigger.

Has anyone else ever run into this issue? I figured I would buy a pretty decent gasket instead of just a cheapie one. Spent 26.00 on this gasket from Ford Racing and I figured everything would be good.

I was going to try to drill out the holes a little bigger since they have the metal reinforcement but I didn't want to end up damaging it in case I have to return it. I cant put smaller bolts in there cause then they wont thread into the holes in the block.

Any thoughts?

 

I just had the same issue on a motor I am building. Got the rear sump pan and it came with the one piece gasket. I ended up drilling the pan to to 21/64" and drilling the inserts in the gasket as well. Be careful when drilling the gasket, use a sharp bit and don't use too much pressure. Also doesn't hurt to use a cutting oil to keep the bit and insert cool.

 

I just used the same gasket on a 1971 block. You need to drill out the gasket for the corner bolts. Be careful doing it or you can mess up the rubber around it. Also don't let it heat up too much while drilling or it may burn the rubber. This is standard procedure. I believe all pre-79 460s have the larger corner bolts.

Also, incase you're interested... The steel core in my gasket didn't want to lay completely flat on the pan (because of shipping I'm guessing), so I ended up using some Indian Head high tack gasket glue (can get it at most auto parts stores, it's a little brown bottle) on the pan. Then I stuck the gasket to it and put the pan upside down and put some weight (an old 8lb flex plate) on the pan and let it sit there for about 4 hours. The gasket was stuck fully to the pan after that, and I bolted it right up to the engine. That'll also help keep the gasket to stick only to the pan if I ever need to pull it off again, and hopefully it won't stick to the block.

 

Yeah thanks that's what I did I used a little cutting fluid on a drill bit with the drill press and cut em bigger. Went smooth didn't get hot and drill bit didn't catch. Got oil pan put up with no problems
Thanks again

 

Sure thing. Glad you got it done right!