What the heck!

fishy68 said
Mully did you try putting the pan up in place to see if it fits the engine correctly? That'll tell you if it's a pan issue or gasket issue. Also did you try flipping the gasket over end to end? They look very similar but fit correctly only one way. The front end is a little shorter if I remember right. I think that's the same oil pan set I bought for my new engine I'm building. Tomorrow I'll pull things out and have a look see if it fits right and check back.

No I didn't. I was thinking it was more of the gasket and seal problem at the time.

I flipped the rail gasket end to end but didn't try the other gasket that is still in the package.... I thought both are the same anyways.

The pan fit nicely when I first mounted it to the engine last year. I mean there was nothing that set off the alarms like is going on right now. The pan does not look bent or anything. If it was bent I don't see how it would affect the problem where the rail gasket isnt long enough to reach the pan seal.

waggin said
at the risk of sounding stoopid......take the rail gaskets and switch them to opposite ends of the pan.....the end you are showing us in the pic goes to the front,the rubber part is designed to be crushed tight when installed but use a lil' dab of rtv where the rubber meet's the gasket in the corners.the 360 engine has a diffrent main cap than 273-340 but the timing cover end is the same as 273-340 and that is why the side pan gaskets don't go that way...hope this is helpful......I just reread.....fishy's right on the money

I bet that is the problem..... I bet I have 273-340 pan rail gaskets mixed wrongly with 360 front and rear pan seals.

I won't have much time to work with it until this weekend.