Packard pan removal......

[Spitfire8]

Hello Packard fans:: Just purchased my first Packard, a '36 Standard-8. Would like to drop and clean the pan. Getting the pan off appears easy, but are there any "caveats" regarding getting it back in position, and sealed so it doesn't leak?

I ask, because this pan is also bolted vertically to the motor at both front and rear; whereas pans I've previously encountered have fasteners only on the horizontal-plane.

Thanks in advance for any garage-wisdom!

[Owen_Dyneto]

The only thing I can add to the good advice above is to BE GENTLE. By today's standards the alloy is fairly primitive and getting cracks or broken corners repaired can be quite expensive. I take the pan down on my 1934 Eight every 5 or 6 years to clean it and the pump screen; please use only most gentle of persuasive forces if needed if its resistant to just dropping down.

[Rusty_OToole]

Here is a tip. For paper or cork gaskets. Coat them with a thin film of silicone sealer and let dry. Oil the mating surfaces of the pan and block. The gasket will seal better and will not be stuck together when you go to take it apart.

[Tom M]

What about putting a bead of grease on both sides of the gasket? Someone one told me about that little trick

[Owen_Dyneto]

My method for the last 40 years has been shellac or hardening Permatex on the oil pan side, and a light wipe with grease on the engine casing.

[Owen_Dyneto]

Perhaps you should try it before you reject it. I said a thin wipe of grease, not thick gobs of grease. And it does soak into the cork so that when you subsequently remove the oil pan, you usually don't need a new gasket. And if it was a method that gave leaks, I wouldn't have been using it all these years. Give it a try.

[Dave Mitchell]

With a cast aluminum pan, and two machined surfaces, you do not need really thick gaskets, nor lots of tricks to keep them from leaking. Just use a fairly thin high quality gasket material - which you can get in a large enough roll from your auto parts store or a supply company on the net like McMaster - Carr. The gaskets won't really crush much at all, you want a dense material. I have some NOS pan gaskets for aluminum pans and they aren't thick cork, like the junior cars used. If you want to put on a sealer, try Loctite # 515 (red) and put a very, very thin layer on both sides of the gasket. The other thing to be careful of is to use both flat and lock washers and to slowly tighten the bolts up evenly around the pan as you go. The cast pans can break, especially on the back corners. They can be fixed, but it is a pain. The pans are good castings in general and it should line up and fit nicely and all bolts should go right in, and you will have no problems.

[Guest imported_PackardV8]

"My method for the last 40 years has been shellac or hardening Permatex on the oil pan side, and a light wipe with grease on the engine casing. "

This is the best method to use. Especialy on long time keepers that may be subject to frequesnt disassembly.

It allows difficult parts/gakets to be reused up to 5 or 6 times with no leaks.

HOWEVER, tho i really do not like the use of RTV silicone sealer i use it in cases like this. A THIN EVEN SMEAR of RTV allows for good sealing during operation and allows for quick release upon the next disassembly while the shellac will keep the gasket intact on the removed part.

Avoid the use of thick gasket material on cast parts mating to cast parts, especialy aluminum.

I'm not sure how how the bolts screw into the block but if the are open holes into the crankcase then some shellac on the threads maybe needed for sealing.