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Oh, I never knew that. I did use the old bolts. The reason for that was - the torque on those bolts (if torqued with 8nm or 71" lbs as per the manual) is minimal, providing little to no stress to the bolt. But may be they are designed for a single use - that's another story. My theory is - the new original bolts may come with the tread lock on them and that's the only reason why to replace them. May be I'm not correct.
Let me shout out to the ones who did the same job - did you guys replaced the bolts or keep the old ones?
Ok, another update. I did remove the pan yesterday. Again. Cleaned it. I put it upside down on my kitchen countertop (assuming it is somewhat level). I did shine with the flashlight from one side to another and I was able to see the light through the uneven pan edge. I can't make the conclusions if the pan is bent or if this unevenness is within the tolerance, just presenting the facts. I did put a new gasket and re-did the "level test". I did see the light again and it required quite a force to press the pan towards the countertop in order to block the light from coming through, if you know what I'm saying. Next I did install the old! gasket and did the same test - almost no light came through. What I'm thinking is that the old gasket did adapted to the shape of the pan for all those years to make it even. So I did leave the old gasket on the pan and installed it onto transmission and refilled it. Guess what - one minor leak only, what I was able fix by applying little more torque than 8nm and overnight no more leaks!
I'm kinda confident that it's impossible to make absolutely straight pan simply because it is not machined but it's was pressed in the form instead. I can remove the pan from my donor car and do the same test - but really don't want to make a mess on my driveway.
It does sound like a warped pan. Also, to Anker's comment about the bolts, on your 722.6, they are reusable. Ont he 722.9, they are an aluminum alloy and are one-time-use.
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