[ProjectCar95]

Last time, sorry for bringing up the infamous dented oil pan problem. I took some measurements and wanted to see what you guys think because i’m about to start it up and break the engine in here soon. I used a .024 feeler gauge and was able to tightly make it through the gap I have here. Anything larger than .024 wouldn’t make it through. I plan to do several 3-5k rpm pulls to break in the fresh engine and want to make sure this dent will not be large enough to spin a bearing or even worry about it to begin with. .024 thousandths is an extremely small dent no?

 

[ProjectCar95]

Need to take a hood side pic backed off the pan a was mainly wanna look at if it is flat all the way across the engine bottom portion of the pan looks like that small dent is nothing to worry about

The only other picture I have is a little more zoomed out but the angle I took the picture at makes the dent look worse lol. I appreciate your feedback, i assume this small of a dent wouldn’t cause many problems but i wanted to make sure.
Anyway here’s the only other pic i’ve got

 

[ProjectCar95]

In the realm of oil pan dents, it looks relatively minor. But hard to tell without some pics from different angles. A pic from the back and side would be helpful. You mention this is a fresh engine. Can I ask why you didn't address this dent while the pan was off? Would have been fairly easy to correct, at that time. And also to check the pickup, while you were there.

I will have to get some more pictures later this upcoming weekend from different angles. You are correct, I should have addressed this before the engine was back in the car but this is my first 3s and the first car I have worked on to this extent so I didn't even know this dented oil pan problem was even a thing. After I reinstalled the engine I read about it causing spun bearings and went to look at mine. It definitely isn't that bad but I really have no idea how far it needs to be pushed in before it starts causing oil starvation at the higher rpms.

 

[ProjectCar95]

Kinda on the fence with it
Need couple good pics backed away from it couple more inches
But doesn't look to bad

I will get you some better pictures but from the red lines you drew it looks like you are pointing at another portion of the oil pan closer to the drain plug. I thought the entirety of the oil pickup was located above the rounded portion of the pan. I didn't think any damage other than what is on the lowest part of the pan would be an issue.

 

[ProjectCar95]

I feel like we've had this thread before......must've been someone else.

Dented. Fix it.

I totally understand where you're coming from, it gets annoying having the same posts made about dented pans. I just thought maybe having a quantifiable dent size (.024 feeler gauge) it would make it a tad bit easier to know whether or not this dent will cause problems. Obviously, I would've fixed it before the engine was back in the car if I had known but at this point, I am not wanting to drop the pan, rather I would probably pull the dent out with this tool. I heard from the person that let me borrow this tool that it electrically welds the tabs to the pan which means I would need to disconnect all wired connections in the engine bay to ensure it doesn't fry anything. Is this true? Anyone use a tool similar to this before? Thank you in advance.

 

[ProjectCar95]

I don't know anything about THAT tool in particular, but I can tell you that a master craftsman friend of my from my old work put "weld studs/nails" on my Spyder's pan to pull a small dent.
Once attached he used a couple of 2x4's a tool that I called a reverse hammer (the jaws clamped onto the stud/nail, and then he rammed the hammer and pulled the stud down (the "arms" of the hammer rested on the two 2x4 which were c-clamped to the frame [away from the pan]).
Once done the studs/nails were carefully "cut" off then the pan was primed and painted.
All done in the nice warm engineering lab
Pulled the car in, did the work, pulled it back into my spot out front of the building. A little over an hour start to finish.

Bob.

That seems quite similar to what I would be doing with this tool, I just wanted to make sure it was safe by all means as long as it is done correctly. It really doesn't seem like the most labor-intensive job and is much better than dropping the pan to beat the dent out. I think I will just plan to use this tool before starting it for the first time and see if I can get most of the dent out. I appreciate your response, Bob.

 

[ProjectCar95]

Ended up pulling mine (gasket leak - rust)
Along with pulling everything else oil related to redo me my seals
( turbo failure )



Sent thru parts washer hand sanded thoroughly cleaned / painted

Very nice example pics of a clean-looking oil pan. Thank you

 

[ProjectCar95]

I could but the pan itself isn’t too structural. It’s about a 20 gauge thickness as it is which is pretty thin. I go with a 16 gauge bottom which helps but it’ll never be a jacking point. I’ve actually had one or two people ask if they could jack up their car by the pan with the extended capacity mod lol. I wouldn’t mess with it since the oil pickup screen is so close. If anything, you could build a skid plate that bolted or was welded to the crossmember. It’s already the lowest point so it would work.

Do you happen to have any 2-bolt extended oil pans for sale currently? Along with being slightly dented mine is also leaking from a pinhole near the welds on the side of the pan itself. I can temp. fix it for now but I assume down the road I am going to want something permanent.