I fitted my new, cut-down, sump to my Pinto at the weekend. The engine is out and was upside down on the engine stand for the sump fitting.

It is the first time i've ever done one so I have limited confidence that I did it particularly well...

Is there a simple way to test for leaks from the gasket before it is in the car and running? It was hard enough fitting whilst it was on the stand, I bet it's considerably worse when it's upside down under a car!

[Edited on 19/9/18 by jps]

How complete is the engine? If it's fully built, you can try blocking all the holes (oil filler, breathers etc) and put a tiny bit of air pressure into the crank case. Then use bubbly water in a plastic spray bottle to look for air leaks. I wouldn't recommend putting anything more than 2-3psi in though! It won't take much pressure to blow out a cam cover gasket or crank oil seal!

Just fill it up on the stand, then drain and reuse the oil before fitting. Although most gaskets will leak when under pressure and hot so even still...it may leak anyway

It’s so much more about how you fit them not what you fit.
Recently done a Pinto rebuild and fitting the rear crank seal means taking the rear crank bearing cap off, applying some sealant to the mating faces and torquing down, then more sealant before the wedges that come with a sump gasket set are fitted.
I then seal the plastic half moons to the tracks over the front and rear bearing caps followed by a smear of sealant on the block sump gasket face, place the sump gasket on and use the sump to hold it all down while it sets, then the next day remove the sump, smear a thin layer of sealant on that and replace sump.