I am currently shopping around for an oil pan gasket as mine is seeping oil.

I have an 88 Trans Am GTA with a 350 engine.

I like the Fel Pro one piece idea but I cannot find if I need the thin or the thick version. Can someone send me the part number of the correct gasket for my engine?

 

It has been quite some time since I have bought one, but I thought the difference was due to which type of rear main seal you have (1-pc or 2-pc). Without knowing which engine you have, we can't guess what part you'll need, but you're right on with wanting to use that one piece gasket. I've used them on three different engines and they are great!

 

Mine is the L98 engine. Would this information help?

 

Try this one.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel-os34500r
It's the same that I just used on my last build.

 

Thanks. Will place the order. Strange thing is that in my email notification it was from summit racing and on the forum its from amazon??


Also, was reading the 88 Trans Am Service manual and could not find any variant with a 2-piece main seals. Looks like there is a retainer and a 1-piece seal according to the manual.

 

Did anyone ever used these gaskets.price seems very reasonable for a full set.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/1987-1992-FITS-CHEVY-CAMARO-CORVETTE-PONTIAC-FIREBIRD-350-TPI-GASKET-SET-/262286937117

 

the thin vs thick is referencing to the thickness of the timing cover groove. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Tech/s...oil-pan-gasket

 

Great article. I guess I just got lucky when I ordered mine each time.

 

If you have a stock 1988 L98, you have a 1 piece pan gasket already.

 

Go with the best gasket you can find. "Reasonable" (price) disappears IN A BIG HURRY when you have to go back and do that job a 2nd time because the gasket you used turned out to be a POS.

Some risks just aren't worth taking.

I'd go with the FelPro at the very least; and would consider things that might be BETTER. I would NOT IN ANY CASE even give a thought to one just because it was "cheeeeeeeeper".

AFAIK all the 1-pc RMS motors use the thick lip at the timing cover. Just get the stock replacement gasket for your car and don't worry about "thick" and "thin". Kinda like asking whether you need a "long" vs "short" water pump: "short" hasn't been used in any cars since the 60s except Vettes up to the early 70s; it's the wrong question to ask. Just get what's listed for your car.

 

Thanks for your comments. I completely agree with you re not taking risks and doing a job twice. Will go for Fel Pro.

 

Interesting. I thought the difference was on the rear main bearing seal not the timing cover thickness.

 

No; there's only ever been one thickness at the rear for each oil pan type.

Back in the 60s the oil pans were a bit "taller" in the front, and so used a thinner seal at the TC. Sometime around 70 or so they decided a thicker seal would leak less - not sure how that was supposed to work, butt hay... it is what it is... - and changed it. AFAIK no pans for 1-pc RMS, neither stock nor aftermarket, have ever used the TC seal dimension that was discontinued almost half a century ago.

 

I cannot seem to find a complete Felpro kit for an 88 350 Pontiac engine. Do you guys know of a good source?
Buying individual gaskets is an option but I am still not sure till what detail I am going to dismantle stuff and I being in Malta where things take way too long to arrive from the US, I would like to have them at me before I begin to disassemble.


Till now my definitive gasket list that I need are:
- Exhaust Manifolds (I have Edelbrock manifolds but I think the stock gaskets should do fine)
- Timing cover gasket and Crank Seal
- Oil Pan gasket
- Inlet manifold gasket (Still not 100% I want to remove this)
- Auto Transmission sump gasket and filter
- Rear diff gasket (9 bolt)
- Water Pump gasket (again still not 100% sure about this)


Any tips on a place or an alternate good brand apart FelPro?

 

I think Sofa is right about the 1pc. vs. 2pc. .....however, as he states, the older 2pc. RMS engines, CAN be thick or thin, and it does relate to how it fits up by the timing cover. I read a great article on how to measure your cover to determine which was which. I measured...and was still wrong. Probably user error. Anyhow, started with thick, but needed the thin. ...but I got it now! Not sure how this helps the OP, but for the sake of someone searching later, I thought I'd chime in.

 

That's because there's no such thing.

The last Pontiac V8s were built in around 81.

The V8 engine in your 88 Firebird is a Chevrolet. You won't have any trouble at all finding parts for that.

 

Correct and thanks for all this help. I ordered a set of Fel-pro engine conversion set which includes pan timing cover and water pump gasket. Code is CS8510. I also ordered Engine cylinder head gasket set which completes the top end gasket sets. Code was HSM 7733 PT-15. Hopefully they are the right models but on paper they should be fine.