Sump Chopping...?

[jasongray5]

I have been putting it off for a couple of weeks now, but the day has come, for me to shorten my sump.
The job is made a little tricky-er due to the fact the engine came from a FWD car and the sump is angled. No Worries though, whats the worst that can happen???
Plan is, cut the pan level with the bottom of the bellhousing, then set it on a sheet of 1.6mm steel, cut roughly around it, change the side the sump plug is on (because it will be too short the side its on) then weld it inside and out, grind it all back nice and neet, fill it with something to check for leaks, if its tight, give it a wash and put it back on.
I think the oil pickup pipe will need shortened too, how much clearance is recomended? any tips and tricks on doing this, as its the bit im not too sure about

Cheers Guys

[adrianreeve]

About 5mm off the bottom should be ok, just enough to ensure that you're not picking up sludgy crap from the bottom of the sump.

HTH

Adrian

[RAYLEE29]

agee with the above also if the pick up is too close and a little flexible it can suck itself onto the sump pan which in turn stops oil flow
after youve done it put masking tape over the mesh and then a piece of plastcine a bit of oil on the pan then trial fit remove and check thickness of plasticine and this should be your clearance
hope this was helpful
Ray

[Bimbleuk]

Have to agree at about 6mm min to 12mm max and that's converting from 1/4 to 1/2 inches.

[jasongray5]

Ok, had a go at this on friday... And as it turns out, I was haveing one of those days

Got the sump off and all was well, marked it up and cut it down, chopped out and re-positioned my sump plug, started welding up, all still going well, came to weld in the sump plug holder thingy... welded most of it with plug in, so as to keep it square (well, round)

This is where it all starts to go wrong
I had to take the plug out, so as to get access to weld the bottom, it would appear, that a spatter of weld settled on the inside of the threads without my knowledge, Put the sump plug back in, the did it up with the rattle gun, wondered why it felt so tight, pulled it out, all half the threads on the plug are fu**ed, but so are the ones in the sump pan now...
I then as it was already knackered, put it in again, and went to offer the metal bit of the sump, up to the ALI bit, (10 points if you spot where I go wrong here)
I spot a couple of gaps where the pan has warped a little due to the welding, and not wanting to use the sealant your meant to as I need the pan off again for painting ect, I thought I would nip them up....
I managed to stip about 5 of the threads in the ali (New one of these on the way)
So I turn my attention to putting some oil in the engine to keep it fresh unil today when I can try and sort this mess out, 1 huge air bubble in the oil can later, and there is oil all over my engine, VR sensor and CLUTCH.... So I will be having a new one of them too...

My friend phoned me and asked me fishing, so I thought, a nice walk along the river is just what I need, I only have wellies, so I took my phone and he left his at home. He was wading into some fast flowing water, got taken off his feet, waders filled up, I had to go in after him, getting my phone/keys/penis absolutely soaked in freezing cold water, and my rod and reel have not been seen since....
Just one of those days...

[Bonzo]

Don't you just hate days like that

I know it's a bit late for advice

Personally as a matter of routine, I always run a tap through any threaded boss or component that has been recently welded.

More often than not, some form of distortion will happen & make the threads tight.

[jasongray5]

I'm about halfway through sorting out this complete cock up of a day, The sump pan is going to be ok, if I can run a tap through the sump plug.
Does anyone know the size of the thread inside that little badger?
I think its M12, but the treads on an M12 bolt seemed too big??

Cheers Guys

[RAYLEE29]

Hi, sorry to hear of your troubles, if you need a new plug pop in to your local Halfords with the old one there should be some on display near the oil filters.
only a couple of quid.
if the threads in the boss are totalled you could go up a size on the plug thread
hope this makes sense
Ray

[jasongray5]

It turns out that there is just a blob of weld spatter in the very end of the boss, so it just needs a tap run down through it and the boss will be good to go again. the plug has had it though, so might go down to halfords like you say.
Cheers again