Oil pan leak and fitment - moroso & cal custom, pulling my hair out.

[kalkake]

So, I have had an oil leak from the front of my oil pan for a month or two. I had a cal customs finned pan that I powder coated wrinkle black and sanded the fins to match the mustang powered by ford air cleaner and valve covers. After replacing the gasket twice and rtv'ing the crap out of the front lip I determined the the pan radius does not match the timing cover exactly.....

So I decide to upgrade to a moroso 20502 pan. I called moroso to verify fitment and some measurements to make sure the kick outs on the pass side clear my wiring I installed. All is good, order from summit racing. Today I tore the cal customs pan off verified the new pickup depth, make sure all the clearances are good, front pan radius matches the timing cover perfectly, so I am feeling good. Install the new 4 pc gasket ( moroso recommended) get the new pan in place torque it all down and go to install the crossmember..... Hits the pan... Ok, let me check the drag link... Before I hit lock the drag link hits the pan. So, at this point I am thinking summit sent me the wrong pan for my car. Tech verifies it is correct and since I "installed" it there will be a restocking fee.


I am not sure why it would be so tight of a fit. The only thing I am thinking it the poly motor mounts may lower the engine? I have not heard of this but who knows.

I could go with a stock pan and just powder coat it, or....... What is everyone else running?

Sorry, had to rant a little after today..

Jason

[alex]

Noticed you have not received a reply yet. I don't know what engine or timing cover you have but did have a similar predicament with a 400 sbc, a cloyes timing cover and a cast aluminum pan. The front of the pan did not fit the timing cover nicely. Thick in the middle of the radius but thin at the ends of the radius. I tried a one piece felpro which simply did not work. Went back to a 4 piece felpro and had to grind the front gasket to work. I left the middle thickness of the gasket but thinned out the ends to get the gasket to fit. Lots of grinding but no leaks. Grinding, btw, was done on a bench grinder and was the cleanest way to thin out the gasket on the ends.

Perhaps this description will help.

[kalkake]

Sorry, this is a 289 from a 68 mustang in my 65' fastback.

What I can't figure out is did something I modify cause my issue with the engine being lower and not clearing the pan, or is this a design flaw

Jason.

[victor]

Two ideas. First, if you have a stock steel pan laying around, just put it on with a few cap screws and see how it all works. Second, are your motor mounts broken letting the engine sit lower? The radius? It's either the pan or TC cover as mentioned. If two pans haven't fit, I would suspect the cover.

[kalkake]

Ok so a little more research. I am running 66 style stamped motor mounts with prothane poly mounts. From what I can find these do not change motor height but can't 100% confirm this... Maybe someone here can chime in.

As for the pans, what I thought originally were different on the front radius, I just mic'd them and the cal custom pan is measuring 2.15" from pan lip to the bead in the radius that sits on the gasket in the timing cover. The new moroso pan measures 2.2" so very close to the same. The radius width is also within .05" difference.

Maybe I have an issue where the cal custom pan was not fully seating and creating the leak? I know on the moroso pan my gap between the timing cover and pan was even all the way around where the cal custom pan was not. Tomorrow I am going to put play dough on the mounting surface with no gasket to see what clearance I have and maybe show m the issue.

So, the motor mount may be the issue with the new pan not clearing the crossmember and drag link, but it still bothers me that the old pan is almost the same dimensions and will not seal for anything....

Jason

[ScottsGT]

Have you ever thought about correcting the radius on the Cal Custom pan? A die grinder and JB weld can work wonders.

[tooponies]

I was watching a engine builder on one of the tv shows over the weekend and he had a pan that the radius on the front didn't match the timing cover. He belt sanded the rubber seal to make the contour correct.

[slim]

Originally Posted by kalkake

Ok so a little more research. I am running 66 style stamped motor mounts with prothane poly mounts. From what I can find these do not change motor height but can't 100% confirm this... Maybe someone here can chime in.

As for the pans, what I thought originally were different on the front radius, I just mic'd them and the cal custom pan is measuring 2.15" from pan lip to the bead in the radius that sits on the gasket in the timing cover. The new moroso pan measures 2.2" so very close to the same. The radius width is also within .05" difference.

Maybe I have an issue where the cal custom pan was not fully seating and creating the leak? I know on the moroso pan my gap between the timing cover and pan was even all the way around where the cal custom pan was not. Tomorrow I am going to put play dough on the mounting surface with no gasket to see what clearance I have and maybe show m the issue.

So, the motor mount may be the issue with the new pan not clearing the crossmember and drag link, but it still bothers me that the old pan is almost the same dimensions and will not seal for anything....

Jason

Unless you typoed .05" is a HUGE difference! That's almost 1/16"!


Slim

[kalkake]

No, it was .05" but the old pan that leaked was .05" smaller, so I would think that the lip would seat better.

I didn't get a chance to put the pan in place with no gasket last night to see how it is actaully sitting. I am going to try to test it tonight to see how far off it is. Maybe I can try sanding the gasket, or building up the pan.

It is not leaking a large qty, but enough to make a mess of the bottom of the engine/trans. And we are taking the car on Power Tour in less than a month, so I am trying to get it right.

I will post pix tonight of what I find.

Thanks again,
Jason