Alloy sump pan for 697 1470 engine

[Richard48Y]

The op posted, " The problem is obviously that the oil pan is made out of the same kind of metal that they used to wrap chewing gum in, which makes it distort at very low bolt torque".
My suggestion of pan spreaders addresses his distortion concern.
Not everyone finds success with the same solution.

[GavinT]

I think what often happens is that when people discover an oil pan leak, their first instinct is to crank down the bolts.

If overdone, that has a tendency to mushroom and distort the bolt holes making even a new gasket less effective. There should be square anti shake washers under the bolts which helps spread the load.
Got a pic of the oil pan?

Here's a simple method for flattening the bolt holes.

https://www.britcarfixes.com/shop/uncategorised/easy-way-to-flatten-distorted-bolt-holes-in-oil-pan-etc/

[Richard48Y]

And some cars use a washer with flat edges to prevent the load being too localized.
Many ways to address the issue.

Some of the more expensive pan gaskets I have bought had steel sleeves at the bolt holes to prevent over-tightening.

[maxcar]

Here's a simple method for flattening the bolt holes.

https://www.britcarfixes.com/shop/uncategorised/easy-way-to-flatten-distorted-bolt-holes-in-oil-pan-etc/

Interesting. I’m definitely a subscriber to the idea that people generally overtighten screws. The pan has been distorted some time along the way before me, and I find it a bit hard making it flat again. I have the original square washers, but haven’t found it to work all that well.

I’ll give it a go, trying to straighten the pan and holes, along with gluing the gasket in the described way. If that doesn’t work, I’ll give the spreaders a go.