Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Forgive me if this has been covered, but I couldn't find the answer.

I'm about to seal up my oil pan. I see the dozens of posts about RTV versus Aviation Form-A-Gasket, and the advice to stick the long pan gaskets to the block first and THEN mount the pan. I also see advice to use sealant on both sides of the curved cork end gaskets, but my question is... I assume that "both sides" means the bottom side against the pan and the top side that faces down inside the groove, but what about the two other sides of the curved cork end gaskets that face inward and outward? Some of the posts say that the sealant helps the gasket slide into the groove. That sounds like the sides of the gasket to me. Should the bottom surface against the pan get a sightly thicker layer and the other three surfaces only get a skimming?

Thanks.

--Rob

I did mine recently and still have zero leaks, so I feel that makes me qualified to comment

I used the oil proof black permatex rtv on the curved bits I trimmed them to size first and then smeared the RTV all over and cleaned up and that squeezed out. Then used aviation sealant No.3 on the cork sections on the block and pan side.

I nipped down the bolts on the pan evenly, and then the next day torqued to spec. I've found with the cork gaskets if you don't give the No.3 a bit of time to cure they can squeeze out a bit.