55 Fargo

I agree John, certainly would not hurt to try, I would have tried this immmediately.......Fred

Thanx James, Aero, John, for the replies, hope to tackle this job soon. I have been looking at my oil pan, cleaned it off, now if it stays dry without running my engine, the pan may be okay. Otherwise the end gaskets on the pan could be leaking a lot. I did have my bellhousing and flywheel off beofre to replace freeze plugs, I should pulled the pan and changed the gasket and rear main seal at the same time, that was a big job in car. I had a lot of prep and clean up, replaced clutch, machined flywheel same time......Fred off to work nights at the prison tonight

Hey all, I have read on here,in searches, that in some cases you need to remove/drop a tie rod, in order to remove the oil pan. In my 41 to 48 Chrysler Shop Manual, it says to just lift oil pump pick-up,for clearance and remove oil pan. What have some of you experienced? My Car is a Chrysler, but that shouldn't be much different that removing the oil pan froma P15 or D24.........Thanx

Hi Aero, I just had a look at a spare engine I have , it is sitting ina 47 Chrysler . The pan is full of oil, infact about 1 quart over. This pan is completely dry. Now I know this engine has not been run for many a year, so the seals would no doubt leak, if the engine were run. But my oil pan on car, is leaking like crazy, even after sitting for a time. So next month plan to pull the engine from my parts car, then will use the oil pan for my engine. That parts car engine is really what I would like evntually in my car, it isa 251 full flow oil pressure, reuilt once .030 overbore, all else standard. She is stuck, (valves) on 3 and 5 cyl, I think. Once I have this engine out, will see if I can revive it.......

This is true Neil, but even at $45 per hour, a big job like this quickly adds up. I am very leary, very cheap(at this stage of life), to spend hundreds on labor fo this engine, it runs well, and has good specs, but mileage unknown, and it is used ,not rebuilt. Now I may have this Guy do the work, or I may just drop the oil pan, and replace the bottom rear seal, and pan gasket, and maybe the entire pan. I will save money, and stop or slow down a majority of the oil leaking. This pan leaks like crazy just sitting, so the pan itself has a major leak........Fred

Greg, your machine is well looked after, she just proved it again.........

Well I was thinking or erring on the side of "cheap", and replace pan gasket at home, and just the bottom of the rear main seal, I could do this at home. I could clean the oil pan, inspect it, check for leaks, then paint and re-install. I would also replace bottom rear main seal, clean pick-up screen. I could do this at home for next to nothing. Or I pay the Shop I mentioned earlier, he would do a more thorough job than me, as he has the equipment. I am not pulling the trans and worst the bellhousing from under the car, just off the ground, it wasn't much fun when I had the floor pan unbolted either, but it was a lot more clearance. I do not want to unbolt the floor panel, unless absolutely necessary. Getting the whole job done at shop would probably cost me 10 hours labor, plus any other parts or material that is needed, so $600 I am sure...........Fred looks like the oil pump is leaking some, the pan itself looks like it is leaking oil, and is covered in oil across the bottom of it...

Hey Greg, I concur, I know one thing this pan, or the main seal sure leaks a lot of oil, even when not running for quite a while. Are these flatheads known for oil leaking?...LOL

Hi Mark, I figure the same, will replace this soon...Fred

Hi all, just got the phone with a small local shop. The ownwer is a Cousin of a Guy I work with, and he is right near by. His shop is well equipped he specializes in trans and diffs, as well engine rebuilds. After speaking with him, we decided he would do rear main seals, pan gasket, and whatever else is casuing this engine to leak oil. He has 2 hoists, and he is familiar with the Mopar flat 6 The good part is he charges only $45 per hour. He has a stam cleaning machine to put the pan into, he will check it for leaks, then I can paint it, then bring it back the next day. Usually I do all the work, but maybe this might bea wise move, will change the rear motor mounts, same time, my clutch and pressure plate are new, as well my flywheel was machined before. He may also do the pinion seal, which leaks too........fred

No, as I do not need one, my t/stat is a internal bypass modern type, so no O ring for the bigger external by-pass type.......

Well I do have a couple of other flathead engines, but do not really want to pull the pans off them. I could pull the pan off one and use it, then put my cars pan on the other engine to protect it..........Thanx Aero

Just pulled 160 t/stat, it was closed, but I drilled this big hole in the lip(about 3/16), no wonder, this wil certainly allow the coolant to flow. I did button her back up again, and decided not to use the 180 stat I have, as it seems to stick it's mount, I figured it would not work right. I will monitor the temps in warm driving weather this summer, and take it from there.......Fred

Sounds good the clutch pan has been off, and painted by me about 2 years ago, so will just wash the outside of it, or should I pull it again, and clean inside of it? The pan was most likely had the steel added for armor, may have bee na country car thing to do, the car was way out in the country all its life. When I remove the pan, do I need to cover the bottom end with a plastic sheet while I clean paint and possibly repair the oil pan? Plan to do this soon...thanx Fred

Hi all, just went outsdie started car and backed her out of the garage. Ambient temp outside 32. Within minutes of starting engine, top rad hose and rad started to feel warm, which leads me to believe, the 160 degree t/stat is stuck open, or the small 1/8 or 3/16 hole I drilled through the t/stat lip, is allowing instant circulation of the coolant through to the rad. Ran the engine about 20 minutes or so, temp gauge in car around 130, the top of rad around 125, the head varied from rear at 130 to 120 along the head. The intake manifold was 170, the exhaust manifold about 375. the oil pan about 95, the oil filter housing about 90. The top rad hose about 125. I do have a 180 t/stat in the shop, not sure if I should swap to this or go get another 160 or 170. I know what Greybeard Dave say's on this, but I figure in Summer, once the t/stat opens at 160, it won't make much difference, becaue on hot days she runs about 180 on the highway anyway. Just some of my observations on this, not sure is is of any use to the forum or not......

Pic of the oil pan, note the 1/4 inch steel welded onto the bottom of the pan..

Okay, I have been procrastinating on dropping the oil pan, to a) clean it out and inspect, replace gasket, c) and clean oil pickup screen and look at bottom end. Now I do not know how much the rear main seal is leaking. Will it leak once engine is not running and is sittiing for a long time? The reason I ask this is my oil pan leaks like crazy, even when the engine has not been run for a lengthy period of time. My oil pan has a 1/4 inch plate welded onto the bottom of it, not sure why and for what purpose. There is a lot of oil drip and leakage just above on the drain plug area. I do not see much leaking coming down the front of the clutch pan inspection plate. I want to tackle this project soon, but am thinking maybe I should have a donor oil pan to replace this oil pan. That way I could have a cleaned up oil pan, painted and ready to go on. Any thoughts or ideas on this one.........Thanx Fred

Hey Marty, been doing the same thing, I now have the handheld laser temp gun. The gauge is reading about 10 degrees low, so will check things out once back on the raod ina bout a month. Last night it toiok a long time to warm uo to about 135 to 140 degrees, witha 160 t/stat, and the outside ambient temp was around 28 to 30. But this is idling, and you reall need to be driving to get these old girls warmed up. I was thinking my 160 t/stat was sticking open, but I also have a 1/8 hole drilled into the t/stat to allow air to rise out when re-filling the system, so maybe all is okay......Fred

Siting here with the morning coffee, and thinking about this thread of mine. I think the gauge I installed, which is a used OEM gauge is reading 10 degrees low. Now I am going to keep an eye on it, when the warmer weather driving commences. I am wondering, is it possible to plumb another gauge somehow, that way I can always havea verification eading if need be. I also have my hand held laser temp gun too..........

Thanx Greg and Ed, the infared temp gun, verified very simnilar temps in the top of the rad and what was registering on the gauge, pointing at the rear of the head gave a higher reading, but the coolant temp is what I am concerned with. The new/used OEM gauge is most likely reading about 10 degrees to low...

I betcha that Walleye is as good as our Manitoba Walleye (aka Pickerel). My Wife just bought 10 lbs of fresh caught fillets from Lake Winnipeg, 10 miles from where we live. I had a fry of it already, and man is it good......

Hey all, ran my engine tonight, outside ambient temp is 30, I now have an OEM used gauge, test using an infared thermometer to be about 7 degrees low at 160, so 160 is closer to 153. So tonight I start the engine, back car out of garage, go for a short drive down road about 1 mile, then leat engine run another 15 minutes. The highest the temp of the engine got to 135 on gaguge and temp of coolantin top of rad. Now is the 160 t/stat the reason for this, or am I possibly looking a t/stat stuck open. I also have a 1/8 hole drilled in the lip of the t/stat, it is a modern type, used in the internal by-pass coolong system. I am thinking she is running on the cool side, and it seems more evident with the stock gauge I now have, and my readings in the top of the rad with the laser thermometer. The old gauge which was a cheap Equiss gauge, that read about 10 degrees high. I guess I should wait till warmer weather, and when I am able to go for a real 20 mile ride, to see what's up. When Greybeard Dave says it takes a long time to heat these engines up, he was right. If I were driving this car for winter , I would need to cover the rad with cardboard, and get a 180 degree t/stat, this engine would run real cold at 0 farenheit...........Fred

Ed ,I think Don C welded on a 2 ears for the bolts to go through on his clutch housing. I would say to drill very straight holes, you need a to set-up a jig, or use a large drill press, or maybe have it done at a machine shop. The holes need to be somewhat precise I would think, as to allow the trans to mate very tru onto the bellhousing........

Edwin, if you have compression, spark ,air, fuel, and the timing is close, she will fire up. I do know that I ran my car out of gas a time or 2, it would fire up much easier with a prime of gas. Just the same reason a lot of the guys need to prime some of there 6 volt flatties after they sit for a while and the gas evaporates out. Just try it, prime the carb with a bit of gas, and try and start it,the fuel pump, should pump up. Or use the vaccum pump method and pump up some gas that way. But to think the fuel pump will pump up the gas when dry, with slow cranking, just may not happen. Now go prime the carb, and let us know what happens.........Fred

Hey Tommy, alright, glad things are okay, enjoy the cruisin, nice when the problem gets solved.......Fred