Chevy & GMC Vans

Well, since the garage door goes into the house that is carpeted (who does that anyway????) I've gotten in trouble a couple of times trackin grease into the house...Which results with confrontation...
So it's easier to keep it clean. Besides I hate layin in dirt and grime.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuiJDZ0rQrg[/youtube]
I'd been thinking of this all day and to be honest, I was nervous about starting it up. I've never built an engine before and the only thing I could do was hope I did everything correct. I'd checked and double checked as I went along and primed it one last time, then put some fuel in the carb. I said to my buddy, "Its either gonna grenade itself or gonna run" He said, "Do you want me to start it?" I said Hell no, and turned the key.

Not of the greatest quality, but it started and I hope it ran the way it was supposed to. After 20 minutes of 2000 RPM I believe the cam is now broken in.
After shut down, I noticed the TV cable didn't retract into the sleeve. I pushed on it and it was jammed.. And it was brand new...

I pulled the TV cable off the Tranny and still couldn't slide the cable through.....After cutting the end off one end of the cable it was extremely diffucult to take appart. The cable wasn't frayed or anything, it wasn't pinched on anything, and it worked before I started the engine....I didnt even drive it any where. So if anyone has any idea what may have cause that cable to fail right at that moment, please let me know!

It was all going too smoothly!!!! Discovered an oil leak at the aft end of the oil pan!!!! Damit...I dread what has to be done to fix that...Any suggestions?

chewing gum.

tried dropping the oil pan enough to get access to the one piece blue seal to squeeze some right stuff in and under the original seal....no luck.....still leaks! Now it's take it off again and start over... I guess no one said it would be easy!!!!!!!! Damit

Could I please suggest one thing.Take a step back or go back to it a day later.After all you have done,you don't want to regret a short cut that ending up damaging the engine.(I.E.- too much sealant and getting into a oil passage.)Just take care and let us know how it is going bud.

Thanks for the advise....and I'll certainly take my time...I've decided to pull the pan off one more time and try it with a felpro 4 piece gasket per my engine builders suggestion. He's had better luck sealing up oil pans with 4 vs. the 1 piece. Not sure why...My pan is a new pan from Jegs and it's not a chrome one either. I can tell the one piece gasket is smooth vs. the 4 pcs that are ribbed....maybe that will make a difference.

This is not a knock on what you bought in a oil pan.The guys around here have had the same issues with what they characterize as a Chinese imported pan.It's odd that this came up with you now.I just got done acouple of days ago reading a editorial in Popular Hot Rodding about their project cars.That they all suffer from leaks when first built.That honestly the pictures don't reflect the reality of leaks that all of us deal with.That they have a rag in they back pockets to wipe down the engines before they take the pictures.

It's a safe bet(well no guarantees) that companies like Moroso,Milodon,Hamburger have correct built pans,but costs more.I would go back to Jegs and tell them you problem.Ask them for their suggestion and maybe they will front the costs of the gasket and sealer.Or might exchange the pan for one of the above brand names with a discount on the purchase price.

True...What I don't understand is why the leak in the first place...especially after a bit of seal is applied to the area...I'm going to try a new gasket first, then give Jegs a call and see what they suggest if this next attempt doesn't fix it. Thanks for the support and suggestions.

Well, after dropping the pan all the way, the following is a picture of the one piece gasket. The gasket is blue and the black is my attempt yesterday at stopping the leak. If you look closely, it appears the gasket had folded over the first time it was installed....not sure how that could have happened as it was on the engine stand and upside down. I installed a cork felpro gasket kit from napa...the ends are rubber however. Along with that, i shot a bit of Permatex "The Right Stuff" in the corners and then snugged up everything.

Tomorrow I'll try again and see what happens...

Success!!!!! After going back to old school gaskests (felpro cork and rubber) There are no leaks...

Next step to dial in the transmission and then take it for a spin!!!

Nothing but frustrations folks!! After re sealing the oil pan with the standard felpro gasket set I thought I'd licked this oil leak....NOT TRUE!!! Still leaks, but I'm confident it's not from the oil pan, but the main rear seal. After letting the gasket set for a day, I'd gone out to the garage and fired up the Monster V8 only to see oil come out of the flex plate hole. Tore it off again and cleaned the area aft of the oil pan with brake cleaner and bottle brushes.

I have access to some of the best aviation seal where I work and I used that to encapsulate the entire aft side of my oil pan. The seal covers the entire aft rubber seal and bonds to the bearing cap...I can confidently say, oil is not getting through that seal. It's designed for extreme temps and 500 mph...I"m just saying.

Afer I applied that seal and let it set for 24 hours, I was able to fire up the engine again only to have oil drip off the back of the pan. I took an extra long Q-Tip and swabbed up oil off the back of the main bearing seal area common to the crank and all the way down to the pan....so it's not coming from the pan.

Now the question is how to fix the rear main seal without pulling the engine.....Shit this sucks...cause it starts and sounds awesome!!!!!

How much oil??? about 4 to 5 drips per minute once stopped then stops after a few minutes.

One pc rear main??.

Well I think you do have a 1pc rear main.The cranks on some of them wear where the lip of the seal goes and the repair is a repair seal that moves the lip of the seal to a (I think) inward location.Just one possibility of course.

The block is an early 80's engine with a 2 piece main seal....before I progress, I want to try an engine oil dye and black light test or something similar to that technique. just to verify to 100%. It's possible the seal could have been put in backwards, highly unlikely though as the guy who built the short block has been building engines for over 25 years; certainly a rookie mistake if he did. Defective seal possibly...Ugh......just a pisser for sure and man I do not want to tear the engine out again. I did find a Chevy forum that shows how to change the seal with it in the vehichle...pain in the ass, but do-able.