57 oil pan seal

[valhalla 4771]

I'm getting ready to reinstall my oil pan. After cleaning off the old gasket I placed the oil pan on a level surface, bolt holes down. I expected the rim to relatively flat, but looking at the pan from the side I can see daylight in between the bolt holes, The bolt holes (or more accurately the metal surrounding each bolt hole) extends below the rim approx 1/16". In other words if installed without a gasket, the pan would be tight against the block only at the bolts, leaving 1/16" gap in between each bolt. Please someone tell me this is normal and not the result of over exuberant tightening of the bolts, and that the gasket + permatex will give me a good seal.

 

[1957Bird]

It’s a classic example of over torquing of the fasteners. Fairly easy fix.
Suspended the pan (right side up) between a couple blocks of wood on the floor then take a piece of 3/4” hard wood dowel and hammer and work your way around the pan finessing the gasket area back to flat, making sure that you keep the block directly under the area you’re working on. As you work your way around just keep checking the area with a metal straight edge.
took me longer to type this than it will for you to do the job

 

[Douglemmo]

The above suggestion and measurement must be done on all flanges to make sure you have a metal to metal contact. I have found "raised bolt holes" on components much heavier that an oil pan, in which case I have filed or ground the raised surfaces flat.