I'm currently fitting a 72 sbc into my 49 Chevy 3100 truck. The cast headers I'm using will not allow me to use the drivers side dipstick and I,ve no room for aftermarket headers. Is there an oil pan available that has the dipstick mounted in it? or could you let me know of another way around this problem? Cheers, Ron.
Thanks Jim, I'm over in the UK so I think that's a long shot. I wondered if there was an aftermarket one available. Cheers, Ron.
Fill oil pan to correct oil levels . Make new dipstick tube out of hard break line , slow bends as needed, Then make new dip stick , like out of a long Van Ford , cut & mark oil levels Newer Fords use like a braided cable dipstick You can also remove pan , drill new holes and fabricate !!
I don't know of any. But you can modify the pan you have to put a dipstick on the other side, for example the Moroso (aftermarket) pan I have in my Chevy II came with a pipe thread fitting welded into the side of the pan at an angle, and I made a tube to fit it, using 3/8" fuel line with an inverted flare fitting on the end.
Chevy switched sides of the dip stick. Along with that they redesigned the exhaust manifolds. If you had a later block or earlier exhaust manifolds it would not interfere. Some blocks have the dipstick hole on both sides and one is plugged. The holes are different sizes too left or right. With a little craftiness and thought you should be able to weld a dipstick port into the pan.
The dipstick moved to the other side around 1980, and the GM replacement engines (which you can still buy new) have a hole on both sides, and a funky oil pan with two "notches" to work with the funky block. none of this stuff will help you, unless you are considering replacing the whole engine.
Thanks for your help guys, it looks like I will modify my pan and make my own. The engine is stripped for inspection at the moment so should be easy. Cheers, Ron.
I had to get medieval with mine. It got into the way of my Belair alternator set up and I was using an early Nova pan. We just cut the tube and stick down, which went into the pan with an o-ring. Just kept careful track of how much came off the tube and took the same off the stick. Made a sharpie mark on the stick where I thought full was, stuck it back into the tube and it was very close. Made a 1-quart-low mark as well. Filed the new marks onto the stick. Before & after shots below.
Things Like this is why in My Mind there a difference between Some one who owns a Street Rod & One who has a HotRod / Jalopy !!!
Yes; Dorman has one for the 78 Malibu: http://www.dormanproducts.com/itemdetail.aspx?ProductID=2022&SEName=264-118 Zooming in, we can see that the dipstick mounts on the pan on the passenger side. Part # 264-118. i ran into this dilemma on another unrelated project. But wait, your driver's side is different from our driver's side........or is it? i'm now confused........
I have done the same thing as Squirrel. Only difference is I have used a compression joint and a new shiny aftermarket chrome tube assy. I welded in a 1/4" steel pipe and used a pipe to compression fitting.
Yes, i ran into the whole, exhaust manifolds not syncing up with the dipstick hole(s) dilemma. So, after an exhaustive search i discovered that 78 malibus with the 305 (why only the 305 and not the 350 as well is still baffling to me) had this such pan. Of course GM doesn't sell this pan new anymore, so i discovered Dorman makes a re-pop.
I seem to recall encountering a pan like that 25 years ago...I didn't know what it was from, but it all makes sense now. The 78 A bodies were the first to use those funky manifolds, weren't they? pretty sure they were not offered with the 350.
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