Is anybody using a vacuum pump on the street? I am suspicious that I blew the front part of my oilpan gasket out because of increased pressure in the oilpan and only 7 inches of vacuum at idle.

Oilpan gasket? It's about a thousand times more likely that it "blew out" because it wasn't installed correctly to begin with. (First Guess: TOO MUCH SILICONE used to "seal" it)

A working PCV system is all you need on engines that are run at part-throttle most of the time. If the PCV isn't enough--you need rings and cylinder wall refinishing, not a vacuum pump.

Is anybody using a vacuum pump on the street? I am suspicious that I blew the front part of my oilpan gasket out because of increased pressure in the oilpan and only 7 inches of vacuum at idle.

Is that 7" of manifold vacuum or crank case vacuum? I purchased a STAR Machine vaccum pump that I will be using on the street. Car isn't back on the road yet, so I can't report anything first hand with regards to longevity, etc... It is possible that you have too much positive crank case pressure and that pushed the gasket out. If you really get too much it will blow the dip stick out of the engine :D If you're measuring 7" of crank case vacuum (as opposed to intake vacuum) then I doubt crank case pressure had anything to do with your gasket issue. However, I don't think a crank case will have vacuum with out a vacuum pump.

HTH...

Thanks for the input. It's a one-piece high-buck FelPro pan gasket with no sealant added except a touch at the corners. Only vacuum I measured was at the intake manifold (ported off plenum). Engine has two hours on it and I was carefully breaking it in before going to the track for test and tune. Running 18 degrees initial with 36 total and vacuum advance hooked up. I have never blown a gasket out of any oilpan in my long life so I am a bit confused as to why this happened. Guess I'll just use some generous helping of The Right Stuff and bead it up good where the front piece of the gasket used to be and see what happens. I am also running a large breather from the right valve cover to the base of the air cleaner and a PCV (new and correct) from the left to the intake manifold.

That one pc "high dollar " felpro gasket can be a pain and leak for some ......when you say "blew out " did it really or just squeeze out and leak ..........if you using aftermarket pan it can cause problem withthis gasket .some swear by this gasket some wont use it .....I have it and was using Moblil 1 synthetic and it has seeped at front and rear since day one .switched to Dino oil and it seems to be better ?? Is your PVC rating compatible with your idle vacuum

Yes, I run up to 10" crank case vacuum on the street and have several thousand miles on it with no leaks or problems. Using the same oil pan gasket as you (the rubber Felpro 1 piece)

Using a GZ motorsports street pump. I highly recommend them.

Sounds like you have an issue with crankcase venting or blowby (assuming you are referring to manifold vacuum and are not currently running a crank case vac pump). As you probably already know, a vac pump will not fix blowby -- there are tons of SBCs on the road without the need for crank case vac pumps.

I also run a GZ on my little big block. It pulls a max of 11 Hg. Been using it for a couple of years now with no issues.

That one pc "high dollar " felpro gasket can be a pain and leak for some ......when you say "blew out " did it really or just squeeze out and leak ..........if you using aftermarket pan it can cause problem withthis gasket .some swear by this gasket some wont use it .....I have it and was using Moblil 1 synthetic and it has seeped at front and rear since day one .switched to Dino oil and it seems to be better ?? Is your PVC rating compatible with your idle vacuum

About 2 inches was pushed out about a quarter of an inch and broke off from one side. How do I determine what PVC valve is correct?????

Wow .not that it matters but is this a small block or a BB ........ do a search for better info but PCV should have a stamped number that relates to amount of vacuum it needs to operate ...the old Z28 302 engine had low manifold vacuum and it used a different pcv valve than the reg cam engines .for a SB try to get that one for a BB get the one for a L72 or even better an L88 if they are different .....sounds like more issues than the wrong pcv valve .......did your dipstick blow up ?? if not it may not be excess pressure just a bad fitting pan

It's a newly done 468. PCV is the one recommended on a previous thread for high performance cars. It has a "F" on the bottom of the plunger and the one I took out had "38". I do not understand exactly how a PCV is supposed to function and how to match up with a particular performance engine setup. Can you help?

I run one because of the blower. Good unit. 17 - 19 constant vaccum.

Going from memory sounds like you have the correct valve ......this whole valve rating issue is a detail that helps but I doubt a higher rated vacuum one would cause a gasket to actually blow out ...ratings just denote the amount of vacuum the valve opens at to relieve pressure, in theory if you had one that opened at 20hg but your engine only made 10Hg at idle or decel it would not open to vent the crankcase ..... sori dont have a better idea on your problem especially if you dont see any other areas of gasket blow out or dipstick blowout ... I really doubt you have excessive crankcase pressure ..... all this assuming your rings have seated properly etc