Hot Rods Small block Chevy oil pan/intake manifold, tightening pattern?

Hey all,

Is there any specific pattern in which to tighten the bolts on the oil pan and intake manifold of a small block Chevy? When looking up the torque specs, it didn't specify. I used to do a "star" pattern on the transmission oil pan when changing fluid and filter is on my Daily drivers back in the day… Don't know if I should do that, or circular? Or every other?

Thanks in advance

 

there is a pattern for the intake. In general, you start in the middle and go around towards the outside. I do something similar with the oil pan. several rounds to get it tight, on both.

 

For the oil pan, I would start in the middle and work your way out, just like on the manifold diagram.

 

X2 and use a torque wrench so the gasket isn't squished out and makes it leak ( #1 problem w/gorillas tightening down pan and valve cover gaskets )

 

Could look in any Chiltons for an old chevy and find that kind of info

 

A 2 second search.
http://www.small-block-chevy.com/***emblyspec.html

 

Thanks all. And I did Google it. Seems I am not the best at that. Funny cause I kind of grew up like right before it came on the scene. Pardon the tangent, but I think I was the last mini generation to grow up normally. Outside with an imagination. I took a flathead 3hp 1cy motor apart, cleaned it, and put it back together when I was 10 or so. still runs today. There was no internet. Well, there was, but it was certainly not known about by the everyday people. This was probably between 1996-1998.

 

I might add, in the summer of '14 I came across the minibike with that motor on it in my grandmas shed. I put gas in it, it
Started on the second pull. I rode out of the back yard, past the 1950 Chevy I am currently building, and to the end of the street 1/3 mile. It died. The intake manifold vibrated off. I knew the house it died in front of. Borrowed a flat screw driver and tightened it. Rode it back.

Made me miss the pre Internet - smartphone days

 

I can find anything I need for a car in seconds. I have a lot of ARP bolts on my 355... found the definitive tech article on anything ARP, torques, re-torques, sequencing and so on. I print them, toss them in my build binder.

But common sense and experience will keep you from making a fatal blunder when torqueing something.

 

Never looked into those… I'll probably never build anything high-performance enough to need them. A lot of the sheets I look at for torque specs have a disclaimer that the instructions for ARP bolts need to be followed instead if that's what you're using. It is true… The collective knowledge of mankind is at our fingertips, but as you stated there is no replacement for common sense

 

Something interesting - a
Do***ent I found regarding installation of the Edelbrock performer manifold said not to use the rubber end gaskets and to use silicone instead. Any idea why? It's too late either way.

 

Dart recommended no end gaskets with my manifold. I used The Right Stuff. There's a recent thread on it somewhere here.

 

They tend to squeeze out and leak. I used yellow gorilla snot (weather strip adhesive) to hold the rubber peices down on the manifold I recently installed on my 283, it worked fine. I glued them to the block, then applied more of the snot on top of them and on the manifold, then set it down and tightened it up.

If you do the silicone sealant thing instead, don't go overboard with it. The silicon will squeeze off into the valley and end up down in the oil pan where it can end up in the oil pickup screen and clog that. Also, if you do oil ****ysis, you'll see a spike in silicon (SI) on the report.

 

Hmmm. Who'd have thought. I'll keep an eye on it. S****ing off the old RTV, a huge chunk dropped down into the motor. What a pain in the **** I has to drop the pan. Thanks guys

 

Use rtv sealant in the corners where the rubber gasket meets the cork gasket, tighten with torque wrench from center out, do it in 2 or 3 steps to get even clamping. Check your oil pan rails with a straight edge, hammer and dolly flat before you start.

The 1 piece rubber gaskets are nice if you wanna spend the $.

Here's a write up from moroso if you're interested.
http://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/oiling-systems/useful-tips-installing-oil-pans-right-way/

 

Drew google up torque tables for bolts then copy it and keep it on the wall in the garage , its handy when it doubt , but one thing to remember is those tables are for dry , when you add oil you have to adjust the spec . http://www.engineersedge.com/torque_table_sae_ftlbs.htm this is a good one to keep bookmarked

 

Good info guys. This build and the conversation through it has been a great learning experience. I appreciate everyone