Oil Pan Depth and Fitment

[labbe001]

Hi Guys...new member here...I just purchased a '77 K10 with a horrible oil leak..before purchasing the vehicle i noticed the leak was coming from teh oil pan right where it butts up to the timing chain cover....i assumed replace the oil pan gasket and no more leak...i purchased a new 1 peice fel-pro oil pan gasket and new timing chain cover just because the old was ratty looking.....Two issues i noticed right away...(1) the new oil pan gasket fit with the exception of the depth....the bolt holes lined up but the curved part of the gasket was much deeper than the pan....i went back to the store and found the correct one to fit....the sales man at the store told me the one that fit show to fit on a '74 model....(2) second issue i noticed was the timing tab on the timing chain cover....the tab on the old cover stood off about two inches or so and wasnt in the same spot as the new cover.....
in short i guess the only two questions i have are:
(1) Were there different oil pans used on the 74 and the 77's
(2) Does it make a difference what timing tab is on the timing plate cover?

[rickyharp]

The oil pans should be the same from 74 to 77.What you have would be called a 2 piece rear main oil seal.That was used until 1986 when they started with the 1 piece oil seal,then that pan would not be the same.AS far as your timing tab goes the truck tab is straight down behind the water pump,the cover you probably got would be for a car.The tab being to the right side of the cover [facing the motor] that cover will work but you wont be able to set the timing with a light just by ear, or you can power tune it.have someone in the truck with it in gear while holding the brakes,you get under the hood,loosten the distributor just enough to turn by hand,power brake the truck,turn the distributor until the back tires starts to spin then just tighten the distributor, up at that point and set the idle to spec and your done.This works well,and is how all my vehicles are tuned in.No problams or valve noise.