Technical Broken Dipstick Tube….Or Not?

What say you SBC experts??

Freshly rebuilt ‘92 350 with what looks to me like a broken off dipstick tube.
Did all the searches, tried multiple times with an Easyout. Nothing.
Only goes in the block an inch. Can’t tell if my hook wire is catching the end of the tube OR the bottom of the hole bore. Seems if it’s that short it’s not the tube.
Is that chamfer inside the shiny wear ring the broken tube end, or is it a chamfer to locate the expanded ring stop on the dipstick tube?

Hole mics between .352 to .360
New after market dipstick tube mics .390
Anybody have the OE spec for the hole ID?
Tried several flat ended round punches but nothing has moved.

The pan has a new Felpro one piece gasket.
Can it be reused since it’s never been “used”?
No oil or heat.
Not adverse to pulling the pan, but if I don’t have to…….the gaskets are big $$ around here.
Many thanks for any help!
Bill

 

Some time GM made changes in the dip sticks. Google a GM dipstick for your year model engine + - a couple of years. Your used to the tube going into the pan. Some don’t. You use the top tube only. Fingers crossed for you.

 

I’ve dropped my oil pan several times and never had any issue with those gaskets.

 

Those gaskets can be reused, be careful with it.

I would not expect an easy out to work to extract it. Pull the pan, look close, find a pin punch that's just under the dipstick OD size., hope you can get a good angle on the punch.

 

That looks like it's broke off and the flare at the top of the tube is preventing it from being knocked through.

 

The " 1 " piece gasket most of time are reusable,
Make your own dip tube, swell or shrink to fit,,, its just a measurement of how much oil in pan

 

I've gotten broken off tubes out using my modified slide hammer and a tap. Years ago I welded the adjuster from my Vise-Grip pliers to the end of an old slide hammer to make it useful for different uses. I run a tap into whatever hole I want to pull, and then clamp the vise-grip slide hammer to the tap, and just slide hammer it out.
This works great for things that are just pressed in, and don't need to be unthreaded to remove.

 

Tool I made for use with a slide hammer. Believe the bolt was metric, end ground to a taper.

 

Dropped the pan and saved the gasket without any problems.
It now looks like that there is NOT a broken tube in there after looking at it from the pan rail.
Cleaned it out well with a paper roll and checked the ID. Right on .375”
Tried freezing the new tube and heating the block, but no go.
The (el cheapo) Spectre brand replacement tube is too large, plus the cheesy block mounting tab broke off at the spot welds.
Guess it’s back to the parts store or Chevy dealer tomorrow for a stocker.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

Aggravating, unnecessary time consuming ****! Again.

 

I recently had the same problem with a brand new crate SBC and a basic aftermarket dipstick tube. It was like .100" interference. Clearly the wrong size. My solution was 2 fold; First I simply used a sanding disc on a die grinder and snuck up on the right measurement. Second, I mic'ed above the ridge where the dipstick stops going in, and drilled a hole slightly over that size in a 1/4" piece of s**** metal, and welded a long busted screwdriver to it so I could drive the dipstick tube into the hole without kinking or beating up the tube itself. I used a little RTV around the bottom as I put it in since I'm sure my sanding wasn't perfectly concentric. It worked out fine, but was a much bigger pain in the *** than it should have been.

 

wow...how did the hole go from .260 to .375? Strange.

Sorry for the h***le, too....

Does Chevy still sell stuff for engines that old?

 

@squirrel
.260 to .375? Good question. Strange indeed. Probably fat finger typo. How about .360?
I did notice on-line that the OE tube has a block insert end that actually has an o-ring on it.
They’re just long and ugly.

 

That's a bummer of a typo....if you'd said .360 at the beginning, I would not have suggested pulling the pan.

 

There is a few Lessons to learn here

 

Not a problem. I’ll heed any advice you care to share.
Gasket looks good, wasn’t gobbed down with a bunch of sealer.
Now to find the correct tube.

 

Long and ugly can be fixed easily. I had that on a late model SBC, and I simply cut it down to the length I wanted on the tube, then moved the marks up on the dipstick the same amount and used my Dremel with a small cutoff disc to make new "add" and "full" marks on the stick. Then cut the end off the stick, and reshaped it to match original shape.

 

I did exactly what @1971BB427 did, although now I wish I'd have sand blasted it and painted/powder coated it black

 

Adapt, improvise and overcome. My mantra.

Machinist at my local parts store went through his junk pile and found one with the correct end for the block hole. Way too long, and the block mounting tab was all wrong, but the price was right! Free.
Drilled out the spot welds on the tab bracket, and with the tube in the block, clamped it to the tube and did four small plug welds through the spot weld holes. Shortened and redrilled the bracket to fit the hole in the block.


Way too tall though. It would need a hole in the hood to work.
Sectioned the top of the tube about 8” and rewelded the big end for the handle.


The stock, into the pan tube was left alone. Just had to shorten the actual dipstick to the previously measured 3” stick out past the tube’s end. Sectioned it and welded on the end with the holes, marks and twist .


VOILA, a custom dipstick to suit my needs.
Same height as the carb base (for now).
Reinstalled the pan with the saved one piece gasket.
When I fill it up with earl, I’ll verify the markings on the end.
Just needs new paint and we’re done.
And maybe a handle swap!
I know……
Grungy rams horn is just for test stand use!
Getting swapped out for smoothie.(whew!)