How about a cast aluminum oil pan? I've never understood why the aftermarket hasn't come up with one in all these years, given the over 2 million engines made, and that 1.9 million of them have a rusty oil pan. Since a new pan is clearly on your shopping list, maybe you can find one, complete with a windage tray, that my searches have missed?

 

As far as cleaning stuff goes, I have two things I've used that work quite well. A old dishwasher and an electric oven. Right now I have a rented garage/office space for work, so it's has water in the shop area. I got a small hot water heater, which is kept at the maximum setting, and a dishwasher and range from a previous kitchen redo.

The dishwasher is a great parts washer, although not sure if a 7.3 oil pan would fit. 5.0 does, inline 300 six does not. I made a fitting to block the top spinner water outlet so I can remove the top rack when needed.

The oven is a great place to cure painted things, like drums, calipers, suspension bits, valve covers, intake and exhaust manifolds. Bake for bit around 200F between coats. Yes, both stink.

 

Yup - the one-ton. I'll say a bearing in there would make it easier, but I am able to turn the engine 360 with that punky 18" handle and no breaker bar. There's no squealing when I turn the engine, so I'm guessing a lack of lube would make turning more challenging and annoying.

 

I'm going with the Moroso oil pan, but I'm going to use the factory sealant - not the gasket. A gasket would make the oil pan serviceable, but my hope is to never need that feature with a better pan. I looked at the aluminum pans (they make them), but they are fu-u-gly. Besides, even aluminum gets a coating of corrosion with winter roads. I totally get the idea of cooling the oil in the pan, but I have never had issues with hot oil - I've peaked at 215 on a hot day while towing up a steep grade.

I don't think I'll be tearing the engine down, I hope to just test and inspect - that was the point of shopping for a low-mile engine.

I had a horrible thought after I spun the engine with the pan on: If any debris was in the pan, it ain't there now - it's in the engine. I pulled the drain plug before I rolled the engine, and it luckily had a magnet on it. Zero debris of any type there. I kept the pan on because I didn't want to get anything in the engine when I clean it with the steamer. Ironic, no?

I thought about a pressure washer, but it makes a gawd-awful mess I'm not set up for. I opted for dry cleaning, to be followed up by steam cleaning to keep the mess to a minimum. As for dry cleaning tools (like aggressive spinning brushes) - I have that covered.

 

My, ain't we the spokesman for Milwaukee???

 

well they are one of the better brands like DeWalt, Craftsman and Mikita (SP??), at least IMO...

 

I have the some new Milwaukee Fuel's which replaced some older Craftsman and they sure are nice.

I would remove Craftsman unless going for professional line, anything within the last five years is probably quesiotable. Makita and Dewalt are pretty solid though.

Tugly- can a local machine shop hot tank or jet wash with out having to re-seal the engine?

 

All Milwaukee 18v Fuel tools are made in China. Milwaukee is owned by TTI (Techtonics Industries), a company that started in Hong Kong in 1978, and by 2008, had acquired Milwaukee, Ryobi, Hoover, Dirt Devil... a number of brands that are household names in the US. Their philosophy was "why build brands, if you can buy them at bargain prices." TTI supplied Craftsman Tools. Sears was reluctant at first, which taught TTI that they would have an uphill battle trying to gain credibility with a Chinese brand. So they bought the American brands they previously supplied parts to.

During the downturn immediately following 2008, TTI entered into a distribution/investment agreement with Home Depot, which is why you only see Milwaukee sold in Home Depot in the US... not at Lowes, or Ace Hardware or Amazon (some exceptions here due to how Amazon works), or other hardware store/tool chains.

Ryobi, made by the same company as Milwaukee, in the same manufacturing plant in China, is also exclusive to Home Depot. Same with Ridgid... another brand owned and built in China by TTI for Home Depot. TTI maintains Milwaukee and Ryobi and Hoover etc as separate brands and business units, with design and sales headquartered separately in the US... but it's all built in China.

 

That's interesting, because the NON professional Sears Craftsman 20V cordless "Bolt On" line of tools are made in the same factory, in China, as DeWalt's 20V line of cordless tools.

In fact, all the 20v lithium ion battery tools are made by the same company in China. Not TTI this time, but a different company, which makes Black and Decker, Sears Craftsman, Porter Cable, and DeWalt 20V tools. That company also owns the brand names of Stanley and Bostich, among others.

While there is some element of "good, better, best" in terms of functions and features, some of the internal component parts are shared between Dewalt and Craftsman 20v line. Not all, but enough to seriously consider the cost savings, given that there is zero value in favoring a country of origin, as they are all made in the same place.

I disassembled two chargers, one from Sears, one from the "good" name brand. The PC boards and components were virtually identical, except the Sears brand had an extra circuit for a feature the name brand charger lacked in the model I opened up.

As for 20 volts, that is mostly marketing. The 20V tools generally operate at 18 volts nominally, just like the Milwaukee and Makita 18v brands, only the 20v brands measure the higher surface charge on the batteries that exists immediately after removing from the batteries from the charger, in order to "truthfully" inflate a claim to appear be "better" in the average consumer's limited time and interest to sleuth beyond a bigger number.

 

Milwaukee was a very high-quality tool when I was a kid then went downhill considerably during the time I was looking for cordless power tools but has since then come out with some impressive stuff and probably would have reconsidered my options if I was going to start over on my PowerTool purchasing now.... Too many tools now that share the same battery to switch, it's all Bosch cordless tools now with no regrets.

Ryobi and craftsman cordless tools as of 10 years ago were the same junk, I don't know about now but the ones that were given to me were virtually identical, a new Milwaukee or Bosch is the top dog in cordless tools in my opinion.

 

Good information Y2KW57.

 

Ryobi changed hands over the last 20 years.... it used to be a Japanese company that outsourced manufacturing to China. Then Ryobi bought a 20% stake in the Chinese company that owns Milwaukee, aka TTI. A stock bubble and bust devalued Ryobi's stake, and TTI ultimately ended up owning Ryobi outright as a brand.

One reason why Milwaukee cordless tools have pulled ahead of the competition in terms of innovation within the last 5 years is because TTI hired the guy who dusted off the DeWalt brand back in the early 1990's, rebuilding it from a faded memory of grandpa's old barn finds... into the most recognizable and renowned bold black and bright yellow powerhouse of a dominating tool brand that it remains today. The guy who did that... now works for Milwaukee.

 

Another point to be considered is that Home Chepot has tools made specifically for them, as Walmart has product made specifically for them out of lower quality parts. If you don't believe this check out Dewalt tool kits sold on Home Chepot dot come vs Amazon dot com and compare the weights of the tools to be compared. Those sold elsewhere weigh substantially more than those sold at The Chepot. This is due to the use of plastic internal components vs steel. If buying second hand I always ask where the tool was purchased to start with. Plastic gears might be acceptable for a tool that I won't use much and costs much less but a previous owner might have gotten the best out of them before unloading them to an unwitting buyer.

Interesting write up on the power tool industry, Y2KW57.

 

While I'm disappointed to learn the tool company named after a city in Wisconsin (which I have visited) is now a Chinese product - that does not dissuade me from buying more Milwaukee tools. I had a very low serial number 18V cordless set of tools, and they served me very well until there was a deal to buy back some of my stuff in trade for the Fuel line. I had put my Milwaukee 18V tools through hell and back for 15 years, then sold them back to Milwaukee for an upgrade. I am now torturing a whole new generation of Milwaukee tools - and they take it with greater ease than the last generation. My whine maker is in neutral on this.

There was a time when Japan was notorious for making nothing but junk - that changed. China is notorious for making junk, but that may change like it did for Japan. If Milwaukee is made in China, this could very well be an early example of a shift in mentality. Instead of thinking "If I make a gajillion of these things as cheap as possible, there is always a gajillion people who want them", they may now grasp the better mousetrap concept.

I totally get how difficult it is to get the concept of expensive quality vs. what seems like a more sensible price. I grew up fixing my own stuff since I can remember - and it took a while to learn the importance of quality tools. I was later in business installing consumer-grade products, then moved on to professional/commercial-grade products. The price difference was shocking to me, and it took a long time to digest it all. I can forgive the Chinese for not getting it at all - a lifetime in a culture that is focused on volume (Can you blame em? Look at their population) makes the argument for quality seem crazy.

 

Yes, Japan's turn to quality seems to have happened in or around the 1970's when they started making the stereo equipment that we were buying.

As I get out and about in the world and meet people from other parts of the world I learn some things (yep, I am not too old to learn yet). One of those things that I have learned is that the Chinese do actually make various levels of quality merchandise just like we do and I have a set of Chinese made barbecue tools that rank right up there in quality. The catch is...those quality items loose their competitive edge to transportation costs and, therefore, are not brought here. I even met a man from Egypt who informed me that we get quality Chinese merchandise compared to what is sent to Egypt. Go figure, there's even worse?