659R Oil Pan

[LeftAngle]

I’ve been holding onto this for 2 years, putting it off.   Tonight, while waiting for my true blue hoses to dry, I pulled the plug.  I won’t be here tomorrow, so by Friday it should be ready to pull the old pan.  I know I’ll have issues with the oil pickup, but once I see what’s needed, I’ll get it set.

[jbcollier]

Wait!  Mine was porous.  It is much easier to seal it now before it is contaminated with oil.  I had mine powder coated with an extra thick industrial coating and that stopped the leak.

[LeftAngle]

Q

Wait!  Mine was porous.

I’m confused... your cast aluminum oil pan was porus?   How can that be, unless the casting were sub-standard, and if it were, there’d Shirley be (pun) evidence of that.

Was the oil leaking around the gasket?  I can see if the mating face were pitted how oil could leak and how powder coating would resolve that.   Mine has been machined and the metal there is solid and flat. 
 I do notice the drain plug is poorly tooled.  If oil was leaking from there, powder coating could help as well.  I didn’t care for the plug and was planning on replacing it with something more substantial.  If that’s where yours was leaking, I can correct that mechanically and have it ready for LOG.

I was planning on powder coating all of my breadbox size and smaller metallic parts, but am holding off until after LOG 38.  If I need to powdercoat the pan, I’ll put the old one back on for now.

Speaking of which, see my next post🤯

[jbcollier]

Right through the casting.  Nothing was visible from either side.

Because I already had oil in it, I had to have it boiled out first.

[Bainford]

Q

Wait!  Mine was porous.

I’m confused... your cast aluminum oil pan was porus?   How can that be, unless the casting were sub-standard, and if it were, there’d Shirley be (pun) evidence of that.

In my line of work, I have done a lot of hydrostatic pressure testing of various cast components, and you would be amazed at just how porous some casting can be, and without any visual evidence. I once had a 4" valve disc from a submarine hull valve, cast from NAB (nickel aluminum bronze) that, at a mere 200 psi, passed water through it as if it were a shower head. The valve disc was freshly machine and looked perfect to the naked eye, but had the water tight integrity of a screen door. I've seen numerous examples of highly porous aluminum castings as well, with no visual evidence of defects. It happens.

[EuropaTC]

Just to reinforce what the others have said about porosity, yep, it happens and probably far more than your average chap would think.

My first job after university was in a foundry making propellers from aluminium & manganese bronze alloys. Porosity was a major problem, mainly from shrinkage cavities formed due to the (wrong) cooling profiles. It was a big deal, something would look perfect and then you'd find porosity on machining, cue sharp intakes of breath & weld repairs. Insurance companies back then wouldn't tolerate anything like that and ultrasonic testing for sub surface defects was routine.

I can well believe a casting such as you have there could have linked porosity enough to pass air or liquid through. It shouldn't have and you're perfectly right to expect it to be water/oil/air tight but even so I'd test it before fitting.

[RoddyMac]

I was brought up with the idea that any aluminium casting (sand cast, not die cast) that is to hold any form of liquid should be coated on the side in contact with said liquid.  The coating does two things, it seals the casting along with trapping any stray casting sand particles.  Glyptal was the preferred coating. 

[jbcollier]

Glytal (electrical insulating coating) works if you coat before any contact with oil.

[LeftAngle]

Glyptal it is.  Thanks guys.   I have other motor issues it seems so I may not make LOG after all. 

[BDA]

Bummer!!! I hope for both or our sakes that the next LOG will be close to us. I'd love to see your car!

[LeftAngle]

Hold on now; I said MAY not make LOG... I’m still hoping to make it and still working most days on it and playing night watchman in the building I’m renting space in, so I’m still planning on being there. Just more issues to deal with:)

[BDA]

Great! I hope you're able to make it! My car wasn't finished for my first LOG, but because it was in Atlanta (not too far from me), it was a roller (I only needed half shafts - I have Richard's twin link kit), and the LOG commerated the fiftyith anniversary of Lotus, I rented a tow vehicle and borrowed a trailer and dragged my car to the LOG. Certainly not as much fun as driving it there but it was better than not making it. Hopefully you won't have to go to the lengths I did.