So, I did my first oil change on my freshly rebuilt sbc and now my dipstick is reading about 1 quart too high. My oil pan is new but it’s the exact same oem
pan. The dipstick is also original to the engine block. I put about 1 quart in the filter and 4 in the pan. When I drained the oil I jacked the front of the car way up. Do you think since the drain plug is on the side of the pan I didn’t get all 5 quarts out? I let it drain until it stopped. I’m worried that I’m going to blow every gasket. I’m also worried that if I let out 1 quart then I’m going have more issues. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

The only explanation is you didn't get all the oil out. Jack the car up front and rear if you have to so it's relatively level and supported by jackstands. Let a quart out. Check until it's at the full line. In the future, always fill the pan one quart less than full, wait a couple minutes, and then check the level to decide how much more is needed.

 

Thanks for the help.

 

You might even go a step further, after putting in the correct amount of oil, put a notch in your dip stick where it says full. that way the next guy will know.

 

That is strange, because a newly built engine has no oil in the galleries and it takes about 1/2 quart to fill them.
I would expect the dipstick to read low.
No milkshakes in the oil?

 

No worries. When i did the inital oil change I jacked the front of the car way up and with the drain plug being on the side I can see why I left about a quart in there. I just took a quart out and now it reads right in the cross hatch. The oil is not milkshake at all, and it looks really good for a new rebuild.

 

Start it, run it, then shut it off, wait a while then check the level.
To leave a qt in the pan would mean you had it jacked up so you could walk under the front of it.