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Ask Bill about the dipstick.
He will tell you the same thing i would.
Interesting perches.
Not even a washer where i would expect flanged and dichromated grade 8
Ok, Bill, tell me.
But Jim, why don't you tell me?
As for the perches, if I have to pull the engine to fix seals then I'll fix the perches and headers with the engine out. But, if I don't have to pull the engine then I'll address the headers and perches in the same go.
The dipstick mounts exactly like the 335 engines, a riveted casting in the side of the pan that the dipstick screws into. Since that has an obvious custom dipstick, it could be a wrong fit, original is a 3/8" flared tube with a damn near impossible to tighten 5/8" hex inverted flare nut. The pan looks like it has been dinged and might have a crack or pinhole. If it was me, and I had to pull it off, I would just put a new one from Summit on, they come with gasket, pickup, dipstick and tube and it relocates the dipstick to a near vertical position (look in my album at the engine pictures).
The other oil, does the sheet metal under the flywheel come off? if it does, drop it off and see if the inside is wet. That would indicate a rear seal leak. BTW, if you have to pull the engine, you are going to hate it being a manual trans truck.
Ok, so it may well be the same problem both Dad's and Rusty's pans had - the rivets were not tight and the gasket leaked. Great. :-X18
But, I agree that the pan has been knocked around a bit. So, if the engine comes out I'll replace it. Thanks.
As for the clutch cover, I don't know if it comes off or not. I'll check that out after I get some of this other stuff done.
But why is a manual tranny so bad? I've dropped NP435's and ZF5's with my tranny jack, and if the engine is coming out I'll just put the shop crane on it to steady it, and then pull the t-case and tranny. Then the engine comes out the same way whether it is a auto or manual. And, it would be the perfect chance to put the ZF in.
Gary, it is a clearance issue on the firewall. The automatic flexplate is a lot thinner than the flywheel, then throw in the clutch. The engine has to come forward far enough to clear the firewall, but the oil pan hits the crossmember long before the clutch will clear the firewall. Remember the 5 1/4" between the radiator and waterpump shaft? Then there was you comment about how high they had to drop it from the get it in there.
It will help it you remove the hood and AC line across the firewall and pull the clutch first. Keep in mind Ford put the body on after the powertrain was already in.
With the transmission and bell housing out there's no difference between an auto and a stick. It is just an engine to pull. I always take the grille, radiator, and core support off, but you are right - I should probably also take the hood off so I can go straight up. But, to pull that A/C line means venting the system.
In any event, I'll do an 8-page micro-analysis on gauge colors on my web site soon, comparing NOS gauges that haven't seen the light of day with the three paints that have been suggested - HiPo red, HiPo orange, and Testor's. But, I can say that I like using the Testor's paint better than HiPo's as the Testor's is thinner and goes on more smoothly. Even the third coat went on smoothly, but when I tried that with HiPo's paint it started gumming up.
Looks like I need to pick up some Testor's paint Gary! Looks great and matches about like the HiPo. I was messing with my cluster yesterday and the clumpy finish was really bugging me after looking at it outside in the daylight. Does the Trstor's dry flat/matte or does it have a shine when dry?
Installing the engine without the flywheel and spacer plate is a lot easier.
But I have taken the hood off rather than remove all the wiring at the radiator support.
That dipstick is a sore spot for me.
As many times as I've tried to keep it dry under my truck, she is determined to mark her territory.
Jim - You have a really good point about the radiator support and the wires. Heretofore the worst I've dealt with has been the add-on headlight relay wires, and they can be flipped back to the passenger's side easily. But, Big Blue has the power to the trailering relay as well as power to the fuel pump, and that isn't easily disconnected. I think I'll try to remove the hood and leave the radiator support - if I have to pull the engine. Thanks for the tip.
Jonathan- Yes, the Testor's dries flat. Here's a shot I took yesterday outside with the D7100's white balance set to Cloudy and the exposure set to -1. (I also did 0 and -2, but 0 was way too light and -2 too dark. And, while I could adjust the exposure on the computer, that also changed the color of the needle somewhat.) The color of the needle is fairly accurate, but what I can't capture is the "pop" the needle has. In real life it is brilliant. I really like it.
The dipstick mounts exactly like the 335 engines, a riveted casting in the side of the pan that the dipstick screws into.
Bingo.
My machinist showed me the exact same issue and told me to expect it... and he was right, I really wish I had done something to help reinforce/seal that entire before I reassembled & painted it but I didn't, and it's one of the things that leaks on my 400.
On a different yet related topic, I missed the exact same opportunity on SS1 (Silver SHO #1 of 2) with the power steering pump when I had the engine out of it...
I had read/heard about those pumps developing leaks but OEM variants are obsolete and NOS is exceedingly expensive for this engine (limited production) and we all know about aftermarket quality these days.
But I was in too much of a hurry and decided the existing pump looked & felt fine... and most every other hose & gasket was being replaced/serviced and I figured the chances of it leaking were nil and I'd deal with it later if it happened.
Big mistake. BIG when you don't have a lift (which reminds me, a friend is having a 4-post installed here in a few weeks, yay!!!).
Even with that, though, it's still gonna suck pretty badly... that thing is crammed in there between Cylinder #4 and the firewall and requires work from both top & bottom... with barely enough room to fit your hand + tools in there, much less a replacement part without at least semi-extensive disassembly.
And so if you have the opportunity to seal up that dipstick area (scrape off the paint and seal with some sort of stuff in a tube?) now would be an excellent time to do that....
Chris, FWIW. the later 460 pans do away with the screw in dipstick. It is replaced with a push-in style with a clip retainer. The pan receptacle is welded to the side of the pan. Only leak would be the O-ring on the tube (easily replaceable). I don't know if anyone makes a similar design for the 335 engines.
On your SHO, I don't know how similar the pump is to the FWD 4.6L Continentals, but they have a little pump with remote reservoir on the front just above the AC compressor. Pump is probably different mount, but might be the same design.
Chris - As you probably remember, I did "fix" the pan on Dad's truck. And will this one if it comes off. But, getting to it while on the truck is almost impossible given the headers. So, it'll have to drip a bit until we see whether the engine comes out or not.
Bill - What years are the "later 460 pans"? The catalog shows a change a change on 3/28/89. Might that be it?
I think Amazon is wrong.
This pan fits '69-'97 blocks, though screw size in the corners changed at some point and those holes have to be drilled to 5/16.
I would REALLY like to get this pan with its click in dipstick, but I am never going to pull my engine just to swap it.
