I purchased a set of steel head gaskets from a dealer at a local swap meet for my 1970 350. When they arrived, One was a Fitzgerald and one was a McCord 6699. Both have a .019 CT but the 6699 It appears to be for a earlier oldsmobile and does not have a tab in the center to locate the gasket. From what I understand earlier oldsmobile blocks had two pins towards the outside of the block. At some point they added a third boss in the block and moved one pin inward so the gaskets could only intstall one way. This McCord gasket does not have the center tab and my block does not have an outer pin (hope that makes sense). The gasket will only be located on one pin.
I contacted the supplier and he suggested using a thin film of chassis grease to hold the gasket in place while I installed the head. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks, Dan

 

My post on another forum led to questions. So I will clarify here as well...

Attached is a Cometic gasket that I marked up to better explain. One of the gaskets, made by Fitzgerald, is correct for my motor. It has tabs in locations B and C which match my engine.
The second gasket, is made by McCord and although it is the same in thickness, cutouts and sealing rib design, it was made for an earlier engine. It has tabs in locations A and C. My engine does not have a pin in location A.