Last week my new throwout bearing arrived. This was just the bearing, hub not included. I try to purchase top quality part, Timken, made in USA #1625. The outer steel shell had a large burr at the lip where it is rolled on to the front race. Tried to turn the bearing with my hands and at first it rotated with a gritty feeling then became impossible to rotate any further.                             Today I received a new oil pan gasket "Best" brand #24026E with not a single bolt hole punched out.  WTH?    Sorry fellas, I just needed to let off some steam.................

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Damn...Maybe call up Best.  They're supposed to be, well... you know.  I wonder if they'll just send you one.  Their dealer network doesn't make purchasing their products very easy.  

Just goes to show you that not everything with a "Made in USA" label is gold. Made in USA with imported materials?

I have an idea the pandemic caused a lot of changing of the guards and will take some time to get the wheels oiled and turning again. Sent back the bearing, now waiting for another one and will deal with the gasket tomorrow. Frustrating but "we'll fix it."

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I was wrong about the "Best" pan gasket. My son visited us today and was able to see the outline of the punchings with his much younger eyes. He also bent the gasket further than I dared and one punching popped out. I have bought these gaskets in the past where I had to push out the material at the holes but missed seeing them in this case. The throwout bearing was definitely defective though. Sorry for the false alarm with the pan gasket.

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Black fiber or cork on the oil pan gasket you received?

With the pandemic, Best Gasket could not source the black fiber material and switched to cork for both the oil pan and valley cover gaskets.  The holes (aka punch-outs) are really hard to spot on the oil pan gaskets using the cork material versus the black fiber material.  I am currently waiting on the gasket material to be switched back to the black fiber material before placing a ‘stocking’ order of those gaskets.  Have had some oil leakage issues with the cork oil pan gaskets in the rear seal area which has required some RTV in the rear oil seal retainer bolt holes.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks Ted, that explains why the gasket is cork as opposed to the usual black fiber combination. I may have the opportunity to arrange fabrication  for a 1 piece steel rail with holes that completely covers the entire under side of the pan flange, attempt to straighten out the gasket surface of the pan, hunt for a quality gasket and put the pan weeping oil issue to bed for good.   There is a rubber gasket now on epay but I've seen rubber gaskets react to modern motor oil. Hopefully the switch back to the black fiber material doesn't take too long. 

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Ted,
I’m curious re: the recesses/grooves in the oil pan’s rail.  I assume they are there to provide some traction, and hinder gadget displacement when tightening (?), though they seem rather deeper than needed.  The pan that I have has had the grooves on one side filled previously with what looks like black RTV (old/crumbly now), and wonder if I should bother to clean them out before installation (?).
Could you shed any light on the issue?

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Ted can chime in most certainly, but it is my understanding that the channels in the oil pan rail are there to keep things rigid along the rail and to keep it from flexing between bolt holes. 

I am thankful for Ted's 2 cents on the cork gasket for the oil pan - I thought it was my "user error" that had caused my gasket to leak a little at the rear. Now I know otherwise. I do like to use some of mama's thread to keep the gasket in place, but she is always good about that and knows I will put the spool back when I am done. 



Daniel Jessup

Loveland, Ohio

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

Evidently filling in the pan rail groves didn't help much either.  I have been kicking around the idea of purchasing the rigid piece that surrounds the rear of the pan  or fabricating my own. Have you folks tried this? The provider of this rigid clamping aid has advertised on this site in the past. Did it help? Maybe if one was made to surround the entire pan would be the asswer  Modern pan rails are flat and make use of a steel reinforced silicone gasket with inserts in the bolt holes to limit the amount of crush.  Unfortunately, that technology, or any part of it, has not spilled over to our engines yet.  

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