oil pan to rear main cork gasket

[w.michael]

I am preparing to drop the oil pan to clean it. Les Andrews says (p. 1-135) to soak the rear main cork gasket in WATER for 24 hours. This is surprising to me, as I thought I should keep all water away from this area of engine assembly. I just wanted to make sure I should do this before putting water--even a small amount--into the oil pan. Do I want to do this?

W. Michael