Dropping the oil pan on 1947 series 6269

[Martin Michaels]

 Hello all, Question after i drop the oil pan and clean it out is there any thing to watch out for. (IE) clearance of oil pick scraper, thickness of new gasget stuff like that.

Thanks.

[TMoore - NTCLC]

Hi Martin -

There isn't anything too special about that this process.  Before you drop the pan, order your gasket set - most of the vendors will have them readily available.  They are all a standard thickness, and should work for you.

The pan can be removed without having to disturb the front-end.  Once you have removed all of the pan bolts, and dropped the pan, you may need to turn the engine in order for the front of the pan to clear the crankshaft, but the pan will clear once you have the crankshaft in the correct position.

With the pan out, scrape all of the gunk out of the bottom.  Depending on how long it has been, there could be quite a bit of stuff in there since the flatheads were notorious for gunking.  Inspect the pan - make sure that the flange is nice and flat, and the bolt holes have not been stressed - if they have, flatten them back out so that flange is nice and flat.   While you have the pan out, inspect everything you can see from the bottom of the engine - is the oil pick-up screen clean and clear; does anthing on the engine appear abnormal, was there excessive leaking around the seals; etc. 

Everyone will have their own opinion about gasket sealant, so make your own choice there.  When re-installing the pan, be mindful of the front part of the pan as you are slipping it back into place so that the crank does no tear your new gasket. 

Bolt her back up - torque the bolts per the service manual and no more - you should be good to go.