So I strarted my car for the first time and...

Yes, it needs two places on the engine to ventilate it. right now it's like a furnace with no cold air returns.

 

Had it happen on a friend ofmines Big Block 67 Camaro back in the 70's,with a Moroso 7 quart pan, not on a speed bump, but going across a street on an ave going a little to fast. The car was low and when it bounced going over the crown the pan smacked the road and unscrewed the pan bolt.They used a 3/4 head bolt and it hung just at the edge of the pan.

 

My finding is that if it is not the ORIGINAL from the manuf....it is 98% junk....regardless who makes it or what price it is....my finned elderbrock valve covers are nice though....

 

Put a straightedge on top of pan rail and see what it looks like. If it is straight ?

 

Still not the pans fault is it?

 

Ol' Vic Elderbrock builds some fine covers

 

One year "Janglehead" [my brother] and I were attending the HAMB drags and we went to the track a few hours early on Saturday. This guy with a stripped out 36 chevy coupe shell on a shop-made chassis and a smallblock was doing a burnout and got too close to the edge of the track, dropped a front tire off the left side of the track and caught the pan on the edge of the asphalt...spun the plug out and lost his oil.
Now, if the pan plug would have been on the right side of the pan.......

 

interesting, i wonder if this would happen in the southern hemisphere, does the drain bolt screw the other way and over tighten?

 

Listen I'm not here for pissing matches, but yes it is the pans fault.If the drain plug was put in the bottom (screwing up)as they do on some of there other pans, or the hole was a little higher it wouldn't have happened.Or if it was put in on the passenger side it would have tightened.

 

Make sure the pan gasket surface is flat and straight, use a long sanding block. Red RTV high temp gasket sealer. Put a nice 1/4 inch bead all around the pan, let it skim and bolt the pan on finger tight. Let it set over night and then tighten to specs. Or, throw the pan in with your aluminum cans to recycle and get a good OEM pan and gasket and never worry about it again.

 

Lmao - oh I see now. Of course the pan is to blame.
Silly me.

For my next trick, I will use the above logic and thought process to show how pencils are responsible for addition mistakes and misspelled words.

 

So you are sayiong if the bolt were on the bottom or the other side it wouldn't have made a difference.? Clearly the pan striking the ground caused the bolt coming out, but had it been the other two it would not have come out, and since it didn't do any damage to the pan,no oil would have been lost.

 

What I'm saying is that -
the pan's dimensions are what they are and don't change.
The builder didn't consider ground clearance because the pan is not supposed to make contact with the ground. If the pan does hit the ground it's because the guy with the tape measure and wrench isn't paying attention and its his fault. The pan didnt jump onto the block and the pan isn't going to tell the builder to check ground clearance or to remember that the suspension movement will change the ground clearance.

 

I am with kiwicowboy on this, I have had a bunch of those cheap finned pans and have never had one leak. I always check so often to make sure they stay tight, but even with loose bolts here and there, no leaks.

 

Yep agreed , but it seems it's always easier to put blame on something other than yourself.

 

I wasn't blaming the pan. I would like to use it. I like the looks of it plus I don't have a stock pan. Oil comes from three of the bolts and runs down the side of the pan on the drivers side at a pretty good rate. Those holes do not go thru to the inside of the engine. How does it get there? I'm almost positive it is not coming from the front seal as mentioned in a previous post.

 

If ventilation is an issue I can put the grommet in the valve cover with a pcv valve but where does it hook on the intake or carb. It has a tunnel ram and two Holley 450's.

 

I have a sorry steel spectre oil pan I had to throw on my OT truck in a pinch... And it also leaks through one of the bolts, except it is a rear corner hole, even with the one piece gasket. I laid the gasket on top of the pan before I installed it, and expected this outcome, but had no money to go another route. Just keep in mind, crap is crap, whether its made of steel, aluminum, or... Crap.

 

Its like all those evil guns we hear about shooting people

 

nah cause we drive on the other side of the road down here,

 

Well, I found the problem. I finally got time to work on it today and upon cleaning up the aluminum oil pan I found several cracks along the mounting rail right were the leaks were. Brand new JUNK! Now I have to scrounge up a stock pan like the one I took off and gave away.

 

That sucks !
Ill trade you 1
Your cracked junk for a stocker.
It's cleaned and pained for a wall hanger.

Let me get a pic

 

If the cracks are near the front you might have done what I did once. I used the thicker front rubber seal which prevented the pan to be tightened down till the sides were flush. So I tightened it more and cracked the pan. And it leaked.

 

Glad you found it! Bummer on the oil pan cracks. Wish it had turned out better and been a bad gasket or something along those lines.
PS-All Falcons should have Chevy power!

 

I ran one of those finned aluminum pans for 3 years and the only problem I had was finding a washer for the pan bolt. It must have been a fluke that it never leaked.