It would obviously be better than Fords because it was another hair brained idea that leaves the commonly rusted oil pan unserviceable unless you pull the engine.

 

Exactly Nic... Thats why I thought I would throw the idea out there... Thats what I would do.... I would make the biggest, strongest damm cross member you've ever seen... that is if I was ever in the situation !

 

Hey Hero, drive down to MD.. I'm free next weekend...

(in best Borat voice) NOT!

 

How about drilling out/grinding away the rivets that hold the crossmember in and then bolting it back with 12 grade bolts?
If it works I would entertain that option if I had to.

 

Dan.... I thought it was riveted in !!!!!! I was actually going to go outside and look !! So what the hell do ya need a welder for ?? Drill that sucker out and bolt it back in .. You're a genius !!! lol I would still make a stronger one..... LOL !!!

Hero..... Drill that son of a bit*^ !!!! DONE !!

 

I don't think it's gonna' be that easy...

Pop

 

Another option would be to patch the pan in-place. I did that with my F-250's pan, which had a severely-rusted pan and a 200k-mile 5.8L that I DID NOT want to pull out, and it worked great.

I brushed down the rust as much as possible, to bare metal, and then took a tapered punch and drove a hole through the pan metal bigger than the bad steel, so that good steel was tapered into the pan.

Then I covered short threaded bolts (I think the largest I had to use was a 3/8" bolt) with JB-Weld, and screwed them into the holes, let them cure, and then refilled and drained the oil-pan with lightweight motor-oil, to carry away any of the crud that may have been pushed into the pan.

I think I also had to cover a larger hole with a small sheetmetal patch covered in JB-Weld. In fact, I did take a picture of how the final results looked; not pretty, but it worked:



In theory, as long as you can securely attach the patch (perhaps you would need to use sheetmetal screws on the corners of an extraordinarily large patch), and you can get enough surface-contact between the patch and the good metal bridged by the JB-Weld, there is no limit to the size of the hole you can effectively plug, as the JB-Weld is certainly strong enough to hold that patch in place and keep the oil inside the pan.

 

I would think that you would need an air hammer or something of the sort to cut those rivets off.

 

That may be possible, But you have to un-bolt the motor mounts from the cross member and support the motor some way, before you remove the cross member.

 

He's not got a problem with his oil pan other than the gasket leaking !!!!! You can't drop the pan to replace the gasket, so we're thinking of other methods..

 

Huh. From the description in the original post, I took it to be leaking like mine did due to rust creating pinholes in the metal, not from a failed gasket:

Patches alone with a sealant may not work well for too long, but if there are pinholes or even moderate-sized holes, a threaded plug (with an integral flat-washer in the head) coated with an epoxy sealant can provide a solid mechanical seal, and the epoxy effectively seals the edges.

 

Joe,

How large a hole would you have to drill to get to good metal? I think BobBarry has a good alternate method. Drill out the bad metal and plug with a self tapping flange head bolt and use a viton o-ring for a seal. It would not cost much to try it, either in time or money. Just a vote for BobBarry's idea.

 

I miss read it.. Sorry guys !! I'll shut up now... The thought of using glue must have went to my head before it was used .... LOL !!!

 

I didn't drill; I just used a tapered punch, like a centerpunch, and drove it in where I could find pinholes until the edges of the hole were smooth. Then I used the largest short threaded screw with an integral washer that I could fit into the hole. I just used screws that were lying around my garage, but I suppose you could try to buy screws or lag-bolts or whatever works for you.

I cleaned the pan as best as possible with brake-cleaner, waited for oil to stop seeping from the hole I drove into the pan, then coated the screw threads and the integral washer with JB-Weld, and tightened it down.

I think I had about 5 or 6 holes, as we have the same problem with salted roads rusting out pans.

 

I think with a talented welder i would cut out and replace pieces of the oil pan before i would cut the crossmember. Or pull it.
That whole deal could cause problems like posted before and you still may have the problem again later.