76Stinger

I may have asked this question sometime in the past but can't find the post so here goes again.

Last time I had my oil changed, the tech takes me underneath the rack to show me my oil pan. It looks like it had been hit with a 20lb sledge. The drain plug was also "warped", I guess from the damage, and the tech had to drill out the hole for a larger plug - old one had slow leak.

My question, how hard is it to change an oil pan? Something I can do at home with minimal skills and tools? I hear words like baffles and one or two piece gaskets? What's that all about? Does chrome make the oil pan better :) ?

Yep - I know the sum total of about zilch on cars but by God, I am learning. Guarantee I know a heck of a lot more that before I owned this beast / cash drain.

Thanks

STW :seeya
Robert
76Stinger

ORVette

I'm pretty sure you'll either have to remove the motor mount bolts and jack the engine up far enough (hopefully) for the rear of the pan to drop down and clear the torque converter, or remove some of the steering components and drop it straight down. I've done the "jack up" method for a cam change in a '74 Monte Carlo, but I don't know if it will work on a 'Vette (had to un-bolt the headers too). You really need to get it completely out of there to properly prep and seal it in my opinion, otherwise you're risking more leaks. Not a lot of skill required, just time and patience. A one piece pan gasket will help protect against leaks, and I guess the baffled or non-baffled question has to do with how the car is driven. I don't think it's neccessary for a mostly stock cruiser. Might as well replace your oil pump while you're at it I guess. Hope someone will post that has dealt with this on their 'Vette, because I need to do the one on my car too and I'm kind of dreading it. Good luck!

Duke94

It's not that hard. You need to drop the steering linkage so the pan will come straight down. Buy the Fel-Pro (I think the Summit P/N is FPP-1880) one piece pan gasket. It comes with 4 clip thingies to hold the gasket in place while you put the pan on (slick!). Follow the directions and you won't have any leaks. As far as chrome goes, looks pretty that's about all.

cardo0

:nono: When swapping to a new oil pan you really need to verify oil pick-up screen to pan clearance. This could be done under the car using small ***** of soft clay and trial fit the pan. You'll need to look-up the clearance as I'm feeling too lazy now. :sleep: Yes you'll need to drop that steering link - couple castle nuts and cotter pins. Needed to drop my starter too but some say you don't. And maybe exhaust also but mine was already off. Wished I had known about that one piece gasket though.
Now I had bought a chrome pan from Summit but found I liked my stock piece better (removed pan for cam change only) so mine went back on. But this was before they (Summit) advertized a polished cast aluminum piece for <$100. That aluminum pan would have looked nice along with my aluminum water pump and intake manifold. Polished aluminum will easly show leaks too. But expect it to bust if you smack it with anything driving. :lol: