Oil pan
 

The pan i have on the motor now, which is from Ames does not hit the centerlink bar, but is close...........problem with that pan is the front is pretty much off where the shop put on enough silione to seal up the front end leak.

Picked up a pan from Butler, but that one is 1/2 inch bigger in front than the pan i have now, so im assuming its gonna hit the center link.

Has anyone dented a repo pan 1/2 inch without messing up everything else size wise. The car is a 66 gto, the pan from butler is the rpc one...........i dont understand why they all claim these pans are excately like stock when they all are 1/2 or more bigger in the front.

I tried putting a wanted ad on py, the only reply i got was from two people with 0 posts, didnt want to go down that road.

Couple pics of what i got now, i was thinking of using the new pan if it fit better then try to smake it up , or try grinding the center link down some............whats ya guys think

Rich

BOP sells a pan that will clear the center link

Hey thanks Paul, good to hear from you again...............im going from a few years ago with this deal, was at Wades house and he ordered a few pans for me to look at, they all were a little bigger in the front, i ended up with this replacement from Ames then, it does fit even though its a aftermarket pan, but the front is quite a bit off, by front i mean where it meets the timing cover. I can buy another pan from Ames for $189 and hope that one fits better, but im pretty sure they all fit like that.
Just checked Wades site, thats the pan i have now.

I guess im gonna have the builder try to fix what i got now, or take a gamble and get the one from Wade and hope it fits better than what i have.

Or if the new one i have fits better in front, i take it your not gonna be able to dent that a 1/2 inch without wrecking something else size wise.

Rich

A good used factory baffled pan is out of the question?

when I talked to Butler about a pan for my 1968 GTO they told me that since I wanted a pan with a baffle, that I should get the CANTON pan.
I'm not that far in my build yet, but does seem the way to go for me.

Bart, i have posted on the forum for a couple months for a factory pan, all i got was two people with zero posts saying they have one, didnt want to go down that road.

Seems like i can buy 900 hp motors that come up on the forums faster than a stock pan.

Rich

Hi Rich, might want to call Wade. I'm aware of the center link issue and my customer got the pan from Wade a few months ago. While I haven't seen it, Wade was quit sure it'd work with the 66-67 GTO center link. If it doesn't he'll be finding out soon.

This used pan from Franks Pontiac parts even has a center link notch.

Just a thought are your motor mounts original or aftermarket? I had a similar issue on my 72 Lemans. new motor mounts and spacers for them and the hood wouldn't shut. Centerlink was originally almost touching the front of the oil pan. Ditched the spacers and all is great now. I read here the spacers would correct a frame sag? turned out i didn't need them.

Seems odd to me the Ames pan doesn’t fit right at the timing cover. Is the cover centered correctly on the crankshaft snout?

Hey thanks for that pic, thats what i was thinking of doing with the new pan i bought from butler, but i was worried about messing up the alignment with the rest of pan.

To clear up some things the pan i bought from ames and the one BOP sells does clear my centerlink as showed in the pics, dont know why the top front of the pan needed so much rtv to fill in a leak, maybe the shop that did the motor didnt do that great of a job lining it up.

Im gonna give Wade a call and drive down to his house and see if we can figure this out.

Rich

I have had to work on the oil pans and valley covers from both Ames and Butler. My approach has been to assemble those parts with all the fasteners, snug. Then I work the flanges with several sizes of shot filled hammers I have in the shop. Also have to use a brass punch in some areas to work out the fit. Also had to slot 1/2 the holes in a recent 68 GTO engine build with an Ames pan. It's just the nature of the beast. The Ames pan fit at the timing cover had about a 3/16" gap before fitting it. Be aware, the aftermarket oil pans have extra interior volume vs. the OE pans. Can't really see it from just looking. But I filled several aftermarket pans with measured amounts of water and they hold about 1/2-3/4 quart more liquid to reach the same level. FWIW.

Like Mike said bolt it up so the flanges and bolt holes stay where they are supposed to be an get a hammer-maybe use a large socket to get the curve-use and extension as a handle for it.

The curve at the rear main of my IA at the pan rail was a hair different than stock and had to massage the Canton pan in the corners there. A few pans I have had to nibble the bolt holes with a sheet metal hand punch to get them to line up also.

It seems that all the aftermarket pans have grown in size over the original pan. I'm looking at the notched pan above and thinking the notch is too far forward to match up with my '67 GTO centerlink, but not sure. What I have done in the past is to drop the engine in with the new pan and if the centerlink touches the pan I grab a mallet and give the centerlink a whack straight up into the pan until I have a slight clearance. Almost never over a 1/4" because my link is more in line with the first counterweight. I haven't got in trouble yet, but the worry is always there that I'm going to fire up the engine and hear scraping. :eek:

Photo of a Summit stock replacement pan vs. an original Pontiac pan.

If you’re interested I have a pretty nice original 1966 non baffled pan. Your ad asked for a baffled one so I didn’t respond. $50. plus shipping. LMK

As far as the baffle, Ames lists one that can be tacked in to the older stock pan. Item N328A on page 239 of their print catalog. I've also drilled out tack welds on a wrecked newer pan and removed the baffle to install on an older pan.

Hey Mike, thanks for explaining that , im thinking of talking to the builder and have him take the time to get this thing ship shape.

I take it your doing all this adjustment with the gasket off or on.

Will send the one back to butler, even if you got everything perfect you would have to do as Mick said and dent it and hope for the best.

Rich

Hey Mick, thanks for that info, its part # N323A.........of course its backordered on Ames, im gonna put an ad in parts wanted for that, lets see how that goes.

Rich

Yes, I bolt it up with no gasket, then fit the pan as best as possible. Any little gap left, the gasket will fill. I will go ahead and list how I seal them the rest of the way. Don't want to get too off track. Every builder has a different, method of sealing Pontiac's that must work for them. This is what I prefer. I like the thick, pressed paper gaskets Butler sells the best. They are the most similar to the factory OE gaskets. 2nd choice is the Felpro or similar cork/rubber gaskets. Believe it or not, I have only used the BOP 1-piece gasket 1 time. It worked fine and did not leak but is quite expensive. I attach the gasket to the oil pan with High Tack or similar, mostly to hold it in place. If there was a gap when fitting the pan, I sometimes put a very, very thin skim of RTV over the entire surface of the gasket face that will touch the block. I put a bead of RTV in the 4 corners. Here is where many will disagree. I don't use ANY seal at the rear of the pan. No cork, no rubber. I have had best luck just using RTV, a 3/8" approximate bead, up and over the rear cap. If the rear cap is the older design with a groove for the cork, I place the bead biased toward the rear of the groove. You don't want the RTV to block the oil return holes in the rear cap. I let the bead set-up 10-15 minutes before placing the pan. You need to nail the placement without moving it around much. I always use the pan corner braces and tighten the pan in stages going around it 3-4 times to evenly tighten it. IMO, Pontiac oil pans don't have near enough fasteners to get a great seal. Score 1 for Chevy with almost double the fasteners and a smaller pan. (although only 1/4") Once all tight, I look closely for complete squeeze out at the rear pan seal. I let it dry 24 + hours then slice the excess RTV off with a single edge razor at the rear face. I use a soft set RTV, NOT something like "Right Stuff". Just don't personally care for it. Something like Permatex Ultra Gray or black is nice stuff. I like Valco Brand RTV from Cincinnati but it;s a little hard to find in certain parts of the country. I buy it by the case. Works very well. That's my process, may not be best for everyone, but I have a high success rate. I smoke test every engine I assemble now that I have my own machine. Smoke finds every leak. A tiny weep from the rear main seal on a new engine generally is not an issue. Especially with a BOP 1 or 2 piece seal. They are a dynamic seal and will probably seal up in use. Good luck.