Oil pan damage from over tight bolts...

[weq92f]

Got my pan off and found it needs some repair. The bolts up front were way over tightened by PO. Measured with a caliper using straight edge and found just under 1/8th inch deflection of metal due to the bolt bending the pan toward the block ( place small, thin straight edge inside and along pan bolt rail as if looking from outside, measure using caliper depth pin from top of bolt hole 'caldera' down to straight edge ).

Can you guys suggest a fix for this?

My immediate thoughts are...

o place the pan.. gasket face down on hard surface. Use calculated blows with BFH and a punch/the right size socket or other implement to smash the bolt hole peaks down.


Thanks,

-klb

[geezer#99]

Wack the holes with a ball peen hammer.
Lay the edge on a piece of 2x4.

[chiefcfd]

It's better to body work it with a hammer and dolly. Doesn't take that much effort to straighten out. Use a long straight edge over the length of the pan to get it straight.

[Rich69shortfleet]

Place an old ball bearing that is about twice the size of the hole in the hole, support the rail on the edge of a bench and tap on the ball bearing with a hammer until the rail is flat again.

[weq92f]

Thanks for the input guys. I have no metal working tools but I can improvise a dolly and use my regular hammers. Should be able to make it fairly flat.

Will post up my solution and result later today...

-klb

[BRL]

I use the rounded side of a ball-peen hammer as geezer#99 recommended, then smack the flat side of the hammer with another hammer hard enough to sometimes push the dent slightly in the opposite direction even.

Tightening the bolts enough will even it out so that the gasket will do its job.

Has worked on valve covers, timing chain covers etc.

Simple and easy to do.

[hjewell2]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

Wack the holes with a ball peen hammer.
Lay the edge on a piece of 2x4.

[weq92f]

I used a socket that was just bigger around than the bolt hole, a hammer and some big chunks of wood. Ended up getting it pretty straight. Next time I have some free tool money, I'll get me a ball-peen hammer, LOL!

Thanks, again!

-klb

[AussieinNC]

This sort of damage is usual with sheet metal pans and soft gasket materials like cork or rubber.

This also happens with auto trans pans.

I usually place the oil pan over the edge of a sturdy bench with the flange sitting on the bench, pointed surface up...gently tap the area around each bolt hole flat with a panel hammer.

Suggest you use a Felpro gasket with the metal inserts around each bolt hole...

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

Wack the holes with a ball peen hammer.
Lay the edge on a piece of 2x4.

Doesn't get much simpler than that. Been doing it that way for 35 years.

Gary

[dmjlambert]

Does anybody here use spreader bars or reinforcement rails on their oil pans? I see those for sale online for valve covers and for oil pans.

[Rich69shortfleet]

Just use the good FelPro one-piece silicone oil pan gasket. It has nylon washers imbedded in the silicone gasket which makes overtightening impossible and they support the pan where the bolt tightens down on it and predetermines the amount of crush possible on the gasket so it will seal perfectly. Also makes getting a good seal at the corners where the joints typically are on a 4-piece a super easy thing to pull off. You DO have to flatten the bolt holes on a used pan to make sure the amount of crush on the gasket will be sufficient. I've never had to rework the metal of a pan since I started using these gaskets.

[Steeveedee]

If I had a nickel for every hole in a trans pan, oil pan or valve cover that I had to pound flat, I could have retired one day earlier! You've gotten good advice. I personally haven't any experience with the newer-fangled gaskets. I just snot them up with blue Permatex and torque the bolts properly. Before blue Permatex, I used 3M 8001 Super Weatherstrip Adhesive (Gorilla Snot) to hold the gasket in place when I installed whatever it was. My fellow mechanics used to rag on me about having a tough time getting the gaskets off, when it "came back"- slang for warranty work. I told them it wasn't "coming back" for an oil leak. One of the guys called that stuff "Acka-Pucky", and me the "Acka-Pucky King"

[cypressbog]

Yep, no special trick, just a little technique.

[beadblaster]

Use right stuff sealer on the gasket and pan. This is the stuff that gm uses on all gaskets on their crate engines. Also gm uses the steel rail on the oil pan under the bolts to evenly distibute the load.

[BRL]

Originally Posted by GASoline71

Doesn't get much simpler than that. Been doing it that way for 35 years.

Gary

You're showing your age Gary. HA!

Any oil that wants to leak will start to seep into a cork gasket, and then the cork will get moist and expand to seal it up if done right.

FelPro is excellent stuff, but if done right, cork does just fine thank you, and has been for almost since day one!

...hey, just ask Henry Ford.