350 dipstick issues

[woodshop]

Newbie to the forum here. I've got a 350 in my 74 Apollo, and I've got a problem with my dipstick.

The car didn't have a dipstick when I bought it. It always leaked a little bit of oil, but lately it's been leaking a lot more, pretty sure out of the rear main. It's been kind of tough to keep tabs on it without a dipstick.

I did finally manage to find a dipstick locally. It didn't really want to go in all the way. I've heard that's normal (a friend of mine is a retired autoshop teacher who had one of these new). I did finally manage to massage it into place, and got it to seat in all the way. The problem is that even though the dipstick is in all the way, I've dumped in 4 quarts, and it's not showing a drop of oil on the stick.

I called a dealer who had the old parts books and confirmed that I do have the right dipstick.

Is it possible that the dipstick didn't feed correctly into the pan, ie it went somewhere else internally instead of into the oil?

I feel like a real dipstick asking such a silly question, but I'm just not sure where to go from here.

[Bob]

I would suggest that if the dipstick looks good in your hand, straight, and goes in smoothly all is well. As you did, put your oil in the pan and check the level indicators on the stick to assure that you have the right stick.

You might want to find a longer stick to see if you are on the right track being as yours is coming up dry.

Good luck