MTFCA Forum

Last week someone send me an Oilpan to do some work on.
This pan has a dam .
What do you think about the Oil level .????
The dam is about one inch below the gasket surface
Thanks for your answer .
Toon

Toon,

Is the dam welded on all THREE sides or is the welding on just TWO sides with the bottom "open"? With the bottom open, the oil could drain back into the rest of the pan when the engine is off while retaining oil when the engine is running.

I do NOT think the size of the dam is appropriate as I believe it will retain too much oil under the crankshaft and "starve" the transmission of an adequate amount of oil. A shorter dam, maybe between 1 and 2 inches tall, might be OK to retain some oil under the crankshaft but the dam needs to be open at the bottom to allow the excess oil to drain out. Think about when you need to remove the inspection cover to check/adjust bearings on the crankshaft. Just my opinion.

Cheers,
Terry

Terry ; The dam is welded on all three sides .
Toon

I've found that damming any higher than about an 1/8" above the horse shoes can make the engine burn oil like crazy.

The oil system in the Model T was designed to provide the right amount of oil. Not too little and not too much.

Toon,

If it were my pan, I would remove the dam. I agree with Adam, Ford designed the engine to run without a dam with the correct amount of oil in the pan. If you trap oil under the crankshaft, you risk not having enough oil in the transmission for lube and more important: cooling.

Does the engine have an oil line (internal or external)? How would you tell how much oil was actually in the engine area with that?

Frank B
I don't nothing about that engine .
The owner send me just the pan .
The Oillevel is a mystery to for me ????
Toon

I wonder if it had been used on an engine that was used as a stationary power plant rather then car or truck that was run at a set speed? Most would have been direct drive, bypassing most of the transmission functions, so would have just needed oil enough in that area to keep the main shaft and clutch lubed. Oil could have been added at the front till it came out the petcock.

What Kerry said. The rings will never be able to control the oil with it that high- 3/8" above the inspection plate is almost too high.
Also, welding will shrink the metal in that area and warp the pan, so make sure the pan get checked on a jig.

Call the owner to ask if the dam was recently added. Looks to me it hasn’t been in there to long going by the looks of the weld area.
If it’s just going to be a pretty much stock engine I would ask if it could be removed.
Maybe some body had the idea the front main would have more oil if it didn’t run back as fast going up hills. To many Model T’s have done without it and done OK.

If it was my pan, I'd remove it. If it was a customer's pan, I would not proceed with work until allowed to remove it. No one in their right mind would want to warantee whatever work was done. I'm not sure it would even run for any length of time. It is absolutely remarkable to me the level of creative stupidity some people have at their disposal.

Kerry:
What is a "horseshoe"? Where are they located? How high are they? Is there a horseshoe in the pics?
Just trying to get a grasp of how high the oil level is supposed to be on a stock pan.
Thanks!

The only thing that the pan may be good for is a wheely clown car. Like said it will retain way too much oil. You would be lucky if it would run much more than an idle because of the crankshaft running in oil. Many problems will arise. Billy, the horse shoe/s are the u shaped metal pieces that the inspection cover bolts are threaded into. No not shown but sits just over the bolt holes shown.

Bill, John covered it. the threaded plates that hold on the dipper plate.
Ford changing to a 4 dipper in 1924 was a good indication that the 3 dipper was not a perfect design.
This one is in my stock pile of parts, a 3 dipper that has been converted to 4.

Sorry doubled up on photo

John Warren wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 22, 2020 6:09 pm

The only thing that the pan may be good for is a wheely clown car. Like said it will retain way too much oil. You would be lucky if it would run much more than an idle because of the crankshaft running in oil. Many problems will arise. Billy, the horse shoe/s are the u shaped metal pieces that the inspection cover bolts are threaded into. No not shown but sits just over the bolt holes shown.

Thanks!