Showing off my true mechanic's skills

I got the oil pan off, but am having a really difficult time putting it back on properly. But of course I'm only having this problem since I don't have a lift. Or something like that. :lol:

Yeah, I know, this should be a very simple task to complete. Based on the shop manual, I'm supposed to put gasket sealer on the four corners. When it comes down to installing the pan, I need to tilt is in order to get into into place. By that time, the gasket is out of place (the longer ends fall into the pan). When reading on of the other manuals for the car, it talks about spraying the gasket with some type of adhesive then mounting it on the "engine" versus on the pan. This idea kinda makes sense as it would allow me to manuver the pan however necessary.

So off to the auto parts store I go. The guy there (who unfortunately has gotten to know me - not a good thing!) said he's never heard of doing it that way. He also mentioned something about clip, but I wasn't familiar with what he was talking about. I looked at their various gasket sprays, gasket sealers, ect. but did see a gasket sealer. I did buy "copper spray-a-gasket".

When putting the pan on, should the gasket be on the pan and risen to the engine or put on the engine with some type of adhesive then move the pan into place afterwards? I never would have thought this would be some freakn' complicated for me to do. When I looked over at the tool box and started thinking about taking the big hammer out to fix it, I knew it was time for a break.

Dave, stop right now. Go to Homer & procure 6 heavy duty concrete building blocks. Take them home & using a 1 pound ball peen hammer bust the crap out of 1 concrete building block. You still have 5 for future mental issues that get you pi$$ed. Now that you have releived your tensions go to the auto store & buy some "Permatex sensor-safe Ultra Black silicone gasket maker". Gooy black $hit in a pressurised tube. Wait untill the next day to be sure your tensions are gone & then apply silicone to pan, flatten silicone all around pan with finger. Remember this is being used as a glue (that don't fully dry) to hold the gasket in place. Place the gasket to the siliconed pan & allow to dry so that you can half a$$ed rotate the pan upside down & the gasket stays in place. :023:

On my 1st gen RX-7 I use the oil pan, silicone, a gasket, silicone, a full baffle plate, silicone, a gasket, silicone, to the housings. & then when all bolts are tight, it's :birra: time. ;)

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Dave, stop right now. Go to Homer & procure 6 heavy duty concrete building blocks. Take them home & using a 1 pound ball peen hammer bust the crap out of 1 concrete building block. You still have 5 for future mental issues that get you pi$$ed.
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that is great :birra:

Raymond

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Dave, stop right now. Go to Homer & procure 6 heavy duty concrete building blocks. Take them home & using a 1 pound ball peen hammer bust the crap out of 1 concrete building block. [/b]

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After a rough weekend with lots of damage, I had backed my Saturn parts car into the garage to remove some key parts. After getting it into the air, I realized the parts were all rusted out. I then proceeded (for the first time ever) to give the parts car a good kick!! Of course, those damn plastic Saturn body parts just popped back out. Then I was really pissed................ :mad1:

Off to Home Depot for my concrete blocks!! :023:

My friends make fun of the tantrums I throw but I honestly feel better afterwards. Something about storming around like a raving lunatic for a few seconds makes it all better. Then there is usually hours of laughter created by the things you said or did during those few seconds. :)

Don't sweat the details on the gasket install. It's fine to use some silicone to hold the gasket in place while you hoist the pan in place. Some silicones are better than others. I like Three-Bond 1211 but it's impossible to find locally. Permatex "The Right Stuff"...that's the name...is a damn good sealant. Run a continuous bead of it on both sides of the gasket and as long as the your prep work was good and the parts were clean it won't leak. It's about $17 a tube but worth it.

I remember my dad using some thread to tie a gasket to an oil pan while we were installing it when I was a kid. Im sure we didn't have any kind of silicone around and be damned if he'd ever drive to town to get any. Not sure if the thread would help create a leak later on but it still amazes me at how resourceful he was.

Edit...Just thought more about the thread idea. You could use that and then once the pan is loosely bolted up cut the thread and remove it. Only took me 25 years to catch on to dad's shadetree genious! :D

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Edit....... Only took me 25 years to catch on to dad's shadetree genious! :D
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One of the sad realities of life is how we sometimes discover things so late...;)

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One of the sad realities of life is how we sometimes discover things so late...;)
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But I knew EVERYTHING when I was 16. :P

Hey, I took your advice. But now I have to clean-up broken concrete blocks that are all over my driveway. :rolleyes:

I've actually found when I need to get motivated to do some landscaping, in particular digging bushes or tree roots out of the ground, it to be very helpful to go work on the car for a few minutes. It never fails to get me to swing that pick axe harder!

I ended up getting the gasket seal and applied it. When I finally get some time, it should go on pretty easily now. It just went against what I was previously told - don't use gasket sealer on it.

Gee, yippee, now I get to go outside and shovel dirt. Why in the world did I decide to re-till the backyard? :dead_horse: But then again, if I work on my car first for a few minutes I'll have the back yard done in no time!

Thanks for the advice and laughs.
Dave