Well..I was so excited today. After a month of work, finally gor my 12" brakes, koni reds, and BMR tubular torque arm in. Then I noticedI have an oil leak at the front seal. I had the 305 removed and a 350 dropped in its place (in july). I told the shop to go ahead and re-use my 305 oil pan. Now I have this leak.

Am i responsible for this? I dont know if the bolts are torqued enough or if its a problem with the oil pan itself.

 

over torquing the oil pan bolts causes the leaks more than undertightening.
You can snug them up and see if it helps.

as long as the old pan wasn't totally fubared, it shouldn't leak, as long as the installer was competent. A leak at the oilpan - timing cover is kinda common, I think I have that. You can blame your builder if you like

Try dropping the pan, and seeing if the gasket is wet at the outer edge, that'll confirm if that's where the leak is. Then clean it, goop it in RTV and button it back up.


Edit - wait, if jesus built your hotrod... Who can you blame THEN? hahahahah....

 

there are 3 different front seals for sbc oil pans. a thick, thin and medium one. it all depends on the oil pan, as they had different cutout sizes for the front lip seal. an easy mistake is to get the seal for the 350, while the 305 oil pan may require a different seal. get a front seal for the year/eng size for the car the oil pan came from.

 

I thought they were supposed to leak, keeps the pan from rusting

(same with valve cover gaskets, intake manifold end rails, and the oil pressure sending switch, nothing rusts. . . )

RBob.

 

Sure it's the pan?

Is the smog pump still there?