I've been working on several items that have needed attention...the first being the quantity of oil dripping off Tillie.
Now, I'm well aware that old British sports cars leak some oil, but this was over the top as far as I was concerned. I went after the low hanging fruit first. When I originally filled the gearbox and the differential, I used the wrong type of sealing tape on the fill and drain plugs .
The white tape works on water fittings but not so well on oil. This topic came up on the 6-Pack forum, and I learned that the yellow tape is for oil, so yellow tape was used when the new oil was added... now there is a lot less oil under the diff and gearbox. Not perfect, but I can live with it.
However, the big oil drip offender was the engine oil pan. The original oil pans were made of pressed steel, and I've been told, after 40+ years of service, the holes where the bolts fasten the pan to the block get bent out of shape and tend to leak even with a good gasket. So, I decided to replace the
original.
Time to retire this old boy !
Other 6-Packers have used a cast aluminum oil pan with good results, so when BPNW (British Parts Northwest) had then on sale with free shipping, I jumped on board.
Note the thick flange that mates to the engine block.
6-Packers also pointed out that the engine block mating surface needs to be perfectly clean!
Bastuck is the German company that also made my aluminum gas tank. The new oil capacity is about 1.5 quarts more than stock.
A baffle for the pan is also included...however it did cause a bit of a fitting problem!
The oil pan can be installed with the engine in the car, but getting the baffle to clear the oil pump proved to be an issue. After numerous attempts, I finally decided to cut a section out of the baffle to allow the pan to slide into place.
Please keep in mind this "surgery' would not have been needed if the engine was out of the car.
Payen is a highly recommended name when talking about gaskets.
I watched several YouTube videos on how to install oil pans...it seems everyone has an idea. So, I
chose what process I thought was best for Miss Tillie. I ended up putting Permatex "High Tack" sealant on the engine block surface, put the gasket in place on the engine, followed by another coat on the gasket surface that mates to the oil pan, then slid the pan into position.
Since the flange on the new pan is about a half inch thicker than stock, I needed to get new 1" bolts.
I also used hylomer sealant on the bolts
All buttoned up and ready for oil !
I don't know if this will stop all the oil leaks, but it sure looks cool !
A trip to the wheel alignment shop is the next order of business, so stay tuned!
