Gary Lewis Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Here's how my weekend went: Thursday eve - clean out garage, back the beast in (with MAYBE 2' to spare), pull the battery and block it up. Wanted to get an early start to let the oil make its way into the pan. Even as of Sunday late afternoon, there was still oil dripping out of the drain hole. Saturday - spent the day digging into it. Got the engine lifted, exhaust cut off. I was really dreadnig the exhaust, but it turned out to be the easiest part of the whole ordeal. Getting the pan bolts out were a booger - the engine mounts are in the way. Tried to remove the mounts, but the bolts just didn't want to budge. Even with a cheater bar, I was only able to back out one of the bolts maybe 1 revolution. By the end of the day, I had come to the conclusion that it wasn't going to happen without pulling the engine out. Sunday - putting it back into running shape. All ready to go except the exhaust flange bolt/studs and finishing the oil dipstick tube. I ended up cutting off the dipstick tube in preparation for dropping the oil pan since I couldn't get a wrench in the recess to remove the fitting. I have since bought a cheapy set of box end wrenches and cut open the 5/8" wrench to allow it to go over the tube. I've got a steel brake line that will be a perfect fit - I just need to duplicate the bends for a good fit. Bottom line, a weekend spent learning about the engine and it's attachment points, but nothing actually fixed. Bummer! So, what's the plan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddog8it Posted October 15, 2018 Author Share Posted October 15, 2018 Bummer! So, what's the plan? Keep driving and leaking until I have proper resources (lift, stand, time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted October 15, 2018 Share Posted October 15, 2018 Keep driving and leaking until I have proper resources (lift, stand, time). Now you know why Darth's is still leaking. At least I know my mounts will come off (they have to to get the pan off). If I were to fix the leak, I would probably put my extra EFI pan and dipstick tube on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baddog8it Posted October 16, 2018 Author Share Posted October 16, 2018 Now you know why Darth's is still leaking. At least I know my mounts will come off (they have to to get the pan off). If I were to fix the leak, I would probably put my extra EFI pan and dipstick tube on. A few more tidbits that were learned along the way: To make a new dipstick tube, I used 3/8 steel brake line. The tube OD, the flare and the nut are the same as the original dipstick. For bending, I initially used a 5" OD belt sheave. This worked great - it gripped the tube and kept it from spinning about the tubes axis and also kept the tube from flattening out as I bent it. Unfortunately, it was also too small of a radius and the dipstick would not meet that contour. I ended up bending the tube around an 8" grinding wheel. The radius better matched the original, but it's pretty tough pushing the dipstick thru it - I'm guessing from the flattening of the tube during bending, or the smaller tube ID. The original tube had 0.028" wall thickness, the new brake line 0.035". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted October 16, 2018 Share Posted October 16, 2018 A few more tidbits that were learned along the way: To make a new dipstick tube, I used 3/8 steel brake line. The tube OD, the flare and the nut are the same as the original dipstick. For bending, I initially used a 5" OD belt sheave. This worked great - it gripped the tube and kept it from spinning about the tubes axis and also kept the tube from flattening out as I bent it. Unfortunately, it was also too small of a radius and the dipstick would not meet that contour. I ended up bending the tube around an 8" grinding wheel. The radius better matched the original, but it's pretty tough pushing the dipstick thru it - I'm guessing from the flattening of the tube during bending, or the smaller tube ID. The original tube had 0.028" wall thickness, the new brake line 0.035". Once I change engines, I can send you my original dipstick and tube. I already have the late oil pan and push-in tube installed on the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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