Warped oil pan flange

[tmorgan4]

I took the time to pull the oil pan once again and the flange is slightly warped as I suspected. 3 sides are straight, but the one I welded on is 1/16" or so off.

I think the flange itself is probably too thin to get resurfaced. I thought about just starting over and paying someone to TIG the whole pan. I'm not sure if it can be bent back flat.

Not that just throwing a gasket in there will solve the problem (I've been using RTV), but will a gasket take up minor imperfections better than RTV?

[nissandoms47]

You could try what ive done once. Put the RTV on the oilpan and let it dry and make sure you go around the bolt holes. That way you'll have a thick layer of gasket RTV crap and when you bolt the pan back on it'll just expand creating a seal.

[Bart]

Yep my pan is warped also but i applied a lot of sealer on it, should be ok. I havnt started my motor yet so i cant say for sure.Maybe you can use a gasket apply sealer on both sides of the gasket, and on the surfaces of the flange and block?

[ultrapulse]

She'll be right. Mine was bent to hell after I fabbed off the orig flange. Just stood on part of it and bent pretty much straight again, within say 1/16th. All those lil bolts do a fine job of straightening clamping it into place.

[tmorgan4]

That's the problem...it WASN'T sealing. I'm really surprised the bolts weren't holding it flat. It was leaking all over from the entire flange along the driver's side flange. I just can't decide if a gasket will give me a little bit better seal if the surfaces are no longer completely flat. Maybe the only way to find out is to try it.

[T45]

What did you end up doing to get the pan to fit the pathy? Mine seeps a little bit, nothing major. I plan on building another one in the future PROPERLY! lol I'm going back to work in the shipyard again and there are some killer welders that I can use now. Oh, plus lathes, cnc, basically anything you can imagine I get to use again in my free time. Too bad the job sucks but oh well, go to college!

[z1 zonly]

Too bad the job sucks but oh well, go to college!

Starting again Friday to try to avoid that situation. Not sure how much good it will do me, but might as well give it the good 'ol college try (pun intended).

Anyway, my flange warped pretty significantly. I'm going to try bolting it to a nice, thick sheet of steel, then getting as much of the flange and surrounding metal as red hot as possible, then maybe quenching it and seeing if it will stay any straighter. I really don't know whether or not it will do the trick, but it's the best thing I got going.

[tmorgan4]

The only modification I ended up doing to make it fit was cut the huge bulge off the driver's side and plate over it. It was right where the power steering pump wanted to sit. This front sump seriously fits PERFECT with the rest of the vehicle. Too bad I'll have to switch it to a rear sump soon.

That would be so awesome to have all those tools at your disposal. I just finished my first year of Mechanical Engineering at Colorado State and we don't get access to any of the shops or tools for our own use.