After 10 years and about 30k miles it was time for while I’m in there for a clutch cable I might as well.
I decided to find my oil leaks.

I found them

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After some cleaning.

When I built the engine I used these sealants, some worked some failed just after break in.

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What are builders using now for oil gallery clean out plugs?
What about the oil pump gasket sealant?
Thanks,
Mike

You using cast iron oil pump? That won't help anything.

Galley plugs should be NPT or metric tapered plugs depending on who did the work. NPT will work best with some sort of Teflon pipe dope to help reduce friction as the tapers and threads wedge together. PTFE tape can be used in a pinch but I'd make sure that it starts behind the 1st couple threads to ensure that none of the tape gets ahead of the plug and into the galley.

Oil pump gaskets should be replaced and not reused.

Oil pump gasket surfaces should be completely clean and dry before using sealant. I clean with chlorinated brake clean (which will probably be what kills me someday!) Not sure if you can still get the good stuff in CA.

Oil pump gasket needs to be free from scratches, gouges, screwdriver pry marks, and should be checked for flatness.

Oil pump - replace the O-ring if using a T4 oil pump this is the primary seal to keep the gasket from bearing full oil pressure. Using a Type1 pump without an O-ring? Then you're missing out on the lessons VW learned over the years between the T1 engine and the T4 engines.

I've used HondaBond -4 or equivalent semi-drying aluminum case sealer without issue.

After that, I defer to the pro-builders.

Just to stir the pot I'll add that I'm not a fan of steel galley plugs (dissimilar metals expanding at different rates) but I know Mark will disagree so go with whatever he has had the most success with for steel plugs.

yes to Hondabond.
have been told this is what hondabond is and the stuff actually used at their factories.

range for particular problems.
i did an oil pan on a citroen V6 three times in a row until i got on to this stuff.
its good.
i used red brown for the oil pan, bonding metal pan to alum engine case.
problem solved. for 4 years now. not a drop of oil.

black is also the gear. others use that who split hairs and know their stuff.
engine builders who like to get fussy use black for certain things and red for others.
i'm not sure on the differences. but its all 1207. stuff i get down here comes in boxes with J writing, no english.

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Thanks Hawk for replying.
I am using my original oil pump, I worked on the type 1 solution for 4 months, o-ringed the pump body, machined a spacer to line up the ports, fit a new cover after all that time I still had issues, eventually I tossed it out after cracking the body at the o-ring grove. I used the gasket eliminator for the original pump, this was a fail, but I’m going back to the original gasket, (thanks for reminding me about the internal o-ring).

I am almost positive the plugs are steel NPT, are there aluminum ones available? I would change them in a heartbeat.

For the case halves I used the K2, that seemed to be a success.

I used the silicone tread sealer for the push rod tubes, fail, I went to viton seals using just some motor oil to seat them, success.

I used the Curil T for the cylinder bases, success.

I used the 574 for the oil strainer cover, it hasn’t leaked in 10 years but I can’t get it off, so it’s kind of a success.

For the valve covers, I used to use the shellac in the brown bottle, with the cork gasket, sealed very well but impossible to fully remove. I’ve since gone to a silicone gasket with sealant on the cover side only, to hold the floppy gasket in place during installation.
My biggest failure seams to be the clean out plugs, I used the same stuff as the push rod tubes, installation seamed ok, don’t remember torque settings for the plugs and your explanation could be the reason for the failure.
Thanks for the discussion, this seems to be a “black art” some try to keep secret.
Mike