Hello everyone. On my 1972 olds 350 in the rear main cap right next to the bolts on either side are two rectangular grooves. (See pic, there's only one showing in the pic ). Right now they are filled with gunk. Is that rtv? Old oil? Should anything be there? Also where are all the oil holes in the crank and elsewhere that I should make sure are clear before I put the pan back on?

 

btw - looks to me like the bearing half shell is still in there. as for the crank, take a peek at it...look for a chamfered hole on the journal

 

Yeah, clean those out.

And use a soft, fuzzy pipe cleaner to push through all of the holes in the crank journals to be sure they're clear (though they probably are).
Do the same thing with all of the holes that feed the journals - as quaddriver pointed out, you can gently remove the bearing shells (keep track of location and position, unless you want to replace them with new ones, which is never a bad idea... Hey, you MAW).

Now that I think of it, I think you're leaving the crank in place, so don't mess with the bearing shells - just clean what you can and reassemble.

- Eric

 

Those grooves allow oil that has squirted out of the bearing in the rear a way to return to the pan. They need to be clear.

 

Ok. Thanks tripdueces!
Chris

 

Can anyone post a pic of the holes in the crank journals that I need to clean out? I'm having trouble finding a good photo in the csm. Thanks!
Chris

 

Every journal has holes in it. Those holes

 

The pic is kind of dark, but I don't see a rope seal or any seal to keep oil from leaking.

 

Ed yes. The rope seal is there. Bad photo sorry.