Oil Pan Removal Mod (2 Viewers)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

McGrinnan

McGrinnan

Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Threads
15
Messages
213
Location
New Mexico.....close to Colorado as I can
So a couple weeks ago I did my oil pan gaskets and came to find out that my front cover is leaking as well. To remove said front cover means taking the oil pans back off! Well the first time I did this I ended up with the same issue everyone has....that damn welded in track arm. Because that one bar was in the way I lost many hours to lifting the engine. So yesterday, my older brother and I became bored and hence forth came the adventure of the removadble track arm.
IMG_20141026_153823.jpg

The circled part is what I am talking about. Also the red line is the track arm, panhard is removed and blue line is tie rod/adjustment bar.
IMG_20141026_154107.jpg

And...
IMG_20141026_154637.jpg

So first we start with all great adventures...the cutting. Grinder to the bracket welded in passenger side and jigsaw to the driver side on the inside of where its mounted.
IMG_20141025_154118_741.jpg

Make sure you get some extra blades cause that metal is thick and tough! Next was the grinding.
IMG_20141025_162724_436.jpg

So my wife saw this and freaked out thinking the old "Puddle Destroyer" wasn't going to be drivable anytime soon. So making a promise I hoped I could keep, I told her it would drive tomorrow, and our deadline was set.
 
IMG_20141025_171728_366.jpg
Next we decided that we needed a strong enough bolt to hold the bar in place through its mount so what better then a Grade 8,1inch bolt and 33mm nut! So with some trimming of the bolt, cutting off the head we can fit it into the OEM pipe and weld it in. Before we weld we have to open the existing mount hole to fit this beast.
IMG_20141025_164849_915.jpg

This job is not for the faint of heart and this was the most tedious part. One person had to hold the drill with 1 inch bit and drill through. The other person had to spray cutting oil onto the bit to keep it from dulling out. Thinking since the inside of the pipe was gone it would make this a simple job showed...us we were beyond wrong. It took 30 minutes and a couple breaks but finally we made it through.
IMG_20141025_182034_252.jpg

Here we have the bolt trimmed, fitted and ready to go. The black line on the bolt is where we can't put welds past so that gap we will be filling to guarantee a sturdy hold but my brother, being the perfectionist he is decided that he wanted more. So he took the OEM pipe drill press and added those 12 holes so he can add spot welds to increase strength.
IMG_20141025_182326_140.jpg

Had to ground down the existing bracket
 
IMG_20141025_180155_706.jpg

Make sure to wear your PPE as these are weird angles and discs get stuck and at that RPM they don't stop!
IMG_20141025_180218_262.jpg
Lucky for me I was wearing my gloves and only got this nice little welt
IMG_20141025_184246_402.jpg

Another thing is make sure you don't dig too far like I did. Lucky for me my older brother welded some beads on to build it back up, ground it down and then the bracket will go over it.
IMG_20141025_194852_564.jpg

So this is the other end bracket but again my brother being a perfectionist of a brother he decided it wasn't "perfect" enough
IMG_20141025_201020_419.jpg

So he added a brace. He also decided he didn't want the nuts to never come off so unlike the standard 2 spot welds holding them he gave each side of the nut a full bead.
 
I cannot picture what you're doing. That's a brace for your steering box/frame/panhard. What are you doing with that threaded end? Nut on either side of the mount?

I cut that thing out and plated the hell out of my frame/box mount. :hillbilly:
 
Or, you could loosen the motor mounts, raise the engine up a couple of inches and remove the #1 oil pan. Two nuts and either a carefully placed floor jack and block of wood under the crank pulley or an engine crane seems much easier. Kuddos though for thinking outside the box!

But at the end of the day, I don't see why you are removing the #1 oil pan to reseal the timing cover.
 
IMG_20141025_205530_820.jpg

The OEM pipe with attachment to bracket and bolt through all put together and welded well mostly. The bracket needs a "bit" more welds.
IMG_20141025_211307_157.jpg

So I had to snap this picture. My brother was "slowly" cooling down the metal after welding to keep it from warping. I thought it was funny s***. He was doing it with the straw and Wendy's cup.
IMG_20141025_212458_534.jpg

All nice and welded, cleaned, primed and painted
 
IMG_20141025_211151_645.jpg

Primed the bracket
IMG_20141025_212558_909.jpg

Painted
IMG_20141025_214504_726.jpg

All done. If you notice there is enough room to get a socket in to wrench those bolts off. It sits the same length out as stock.
 
I admire your spirit and savvy, but wouldn't it be easier to loosen the engine mounts, raise the engine a couple inches and drop the oil pans? I've had the joy of resealing two oil pans, but never thought much about raising the engine to complete the job. I'm sure if I have to reseal them again, I might be admiring your method.
 
Well doing a bit more research I found guys doing the diesel swap go this way so if one day we run out of dinosaurs to burn and have to do the diesel swap this makes me one step closer. This simple mod took me the same amount of time as it did to loosen those blasted engine mounts to loosen and retighten them. It also took me about 2-3 times that just to post up this mod. Also being a Tech I have always hated suspended parts that are held by certain points. Maybe I am just paranoid but hey this makes my work a little easier. Plus I plan on keeping this 80 and being buried in it so it makes future repairs very nice.
 
Last edited:
wow. kudos on the effort! I'll Prolly just stick to the old fashioned method on this one. thanx for the pics and details!
 
You said it...takes 3x as long to document the mod than actually doing it. I can barely put together a classified ad so good on you for taking the time to ad to the wealth of knowledge on this board. It's an excellent idea and well executed. Probably makes field expedient repairs on the pan safer and quicker.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
1FZ-FE lower oil pan bolt part number?
Replies
5
Views
792
Kernal
K
T
What is this? 91’ oil pan gasket removal
Replies
2
Views
541
TheMindofJ
T
mobalatero
FJ80 3FE Oil Pan Rust
Replies
6
Views
745
jonheld
jonheld
Francis K
Oil pan had a very slight leak, changed oils and doesn't leak anymore....anyone ever had that?
Replies
12
Views
628
DIRTBIKEUSA
DIRTBIKEUSA

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 3 (members: 0, guests: 3)

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom