killed my oil pan, any way to fix this?

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I definitely will not be doing the welding myself
Im sure I can makes structurally sound welds if the material is there but it makes no sense to even try it with the people I have access to at my job

ill be on "daddy duty" the rest of the week but the plan is to find some time to pull the pan and have it welded by Friday


I appreciate all the advice guys:)
 
flyfish said:
Having just gone through something similar over the past few weeks (I had a 4" crack in my Milodon pan), all I can say is pull it and HAVE SOMEONE COMPETENT WELD IT....I tried to weld my pan myself and totally jacked it up....apparently I'm not a very skilled welder, or the metal was just too thin, either way I totally screwed up my pan trying to save it...so bad that the only real option was to replace it. If you take it to a pro you will save money in the long run.

Oh, and I tried the JB weld thing too (don't bother)....it worked for a few days at the end of last race season as a temp fix, then it let me down on my last race when I was down to 5 cars (started dripping).:wack:
Click to expand...

Oil pans are a pain because of, well, the oil. It permeates everything. And of course when you weld you want a super clean surface. If there's any oil contamination left over, it burns off and you get a crappy weld and a lot of spatter. That's mostly a problem with MIG and TIG.

And the Milodon's have that gold iridited finish. It's a kind of zinc coating, and has to be removed before welding. You can take it off with a wire brush or abrasive wheel within an 1" of so of the repair. You do not want to breathe it either.

I'd wipe the pan down thoroughly with acetone to remove all of the oil residue and then use a scuff wheel to remove the gold iridited finish near the weld. Then TIG it.
 
thanks for the advice Blu, I talked to my coworker who will weld it for me and he requested I ran the pan through the parts washer to remove any oil and then sandblast it

haven't decided yet if I will paint the pan black or gold once it is done

(got to get it off first)
 
I would pull the pan for a new one.
The only time I used JB Weld was when the pan was punctured as I installed it. The thicker high volume pump was the offender.
I hammered the inside of the pan and used the JB there without an issue. Still in use over 10 years.
But it is only a small dab's worth on both sides.
 
Rumble, I have been talked out of using J-B weld
I will be pulling the pan and having a professional weld it
(ill let him decide if he want to MIG TIG JIG or GIG it)

im pretty confident in his welding skills (he also helped me build the engine mounts) and I would hate to spend another 300 on a pan
 
Yep! Got it. Figured I'd just mention it.
 
cool

just wanted to make sure im not discrediting your opinion (or anyone elses who took the time to post here to help me figure this out)

:)
 
That oil pan will seem like child's play after you experience installing long tube headers! I think I threw mine across the shop twice after shredding the header wrap and all but removing the engine and disassembling the steering linkage and weaving it through the headers.... word up, run Doug's shorty headers.
 
cd45harris said:
That oil pan will seem like child's play after you experience installing long tube headers! I think I threw mine across the shop twice after shredding the header wrap and all but removing the engine and disassembling the steering linkage and weaving it through the headers.... word up, run Doug's shorty headers.
Click to expand...

I already bought the dougs long tube headers
the plan is to remove the center link, pull the pan, lift the motor, install the headers, drop the motor, install the pan and reinstall the center link
all without scraping my knuckles :D
 
diymirage said:
thanks for the advice Blu, I talked to my coworker who will weld it for me and he requested I ran the pan through the parts washer to remove any oil and then sandblast it

haven't decided yet if I will paint the pan black or gold once it is done

(got to get it off first)
Click to expand...

Well a trip in the parts washer and a sandblast will definitely do it. That's probably a bit of overkill, but it will be clean for sure and the cleaner the metal the better the weld will be. If you blast it though youll want to make sure you get rid of all the blasting agents before it goes back on the car!
 
found some time to work on the duster yesterday

turns out it wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be
I dropped the centerlink and pulled all the oil pan bolts out
(im so happy I chased every single threaded hole before I put it back together, most bolts took less then 2 full turns with a ratchet before I could twist them out by hand)

once the pan was loose I found I needed to remove the inspection cover to pull the pan off
did that and had some daylight left so I figured, why not see if I cant toss one of them headers on?

I started with the drivers side (also called the dark side)
that's when I found I wouldn't be able to twist the header in place unless I removed the oil pump...luckily the pan was off already so that wasn't a big deal
I got the header in place and managed to get 4 of the bolt started (all the ones that don't go into the water jackets)

at this point I ran out of daylight so I set her back down
I think I wont be able to do anything else (short of re-installing the oilpump) until I get the pan fixed because I need to have the pan in place to install the inspection cover
the inspection cover before I install the starter
the starter before I finish up the header


honestly, I feel like I made good progress


Blu, that pan will definitely get a good washing after I sand blast it


I also noticed I want to notch the frame a little more now that the pan is off and I noticed a second scrape on the pan I want to have welded up
this one isn't leaking but the material has worn thin so now would be the time to do it
 
oh, one more thing I was really happy about, I spend the big bucks on the reusable single piece oilpan gasket when I first installed it
so that will make the re-installation much easier
 
ive been out of town all weekend but I finally had some time to look at the oilpan late last night
(this was after I got it welded)

I rinsed it out real good and cleaned it to get her ready for paint...sure enough, still leaking

so I cleaned up the weld and brought it back in
had a different coworker weld it this time, only because the first guy wasn't there

filled it up with water again and now it holds :)

ill paint it today and should be back wrenching in no time

which leads me to the next question
I am using the single piece rubber gasket
can I run some permatex on there to keep it on place?
(I think I read rusties advice on using permatex to glue to gasket to the pan and let it cure overnight?)


the first time I installed it dry and it didn't leak but this time the engine will be in the car and I don't want the gasket to slip of the waterpump or rear main and leak
 
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