I've got a 1950 Chevrolet coupe here at the shop that somebody has butchered up the oil Pan for whatever reason to make it fit and clear the steering. I've got another oil Pan off of a 216 motor from the year of the car. I looked up the casting number on the block and this motor is 1938 216 That's Been installed in the 50 Chevy And that is why they had to cut the oil Pan up to make it fit.. Does anybody know if I will run into any problems with clearance on the inside of the motor by swapping this later Pan onto it as in the oil pump, etc.
So will a 1950 216 cid oil pan fit on a 1938 216 cid motor. thats what your asking? I don’t have an answer I’m just trying to clarify
The 216 didn't have full pressure oiling, only the main bearings were so supplied. The rods used 'dippers' on the rod caps and 'scooped' oil out of a tray inside the pan for oiling. If any of this doesn't align correctly (or a 'dipper' breaks off, a typical issue), a thrown rod will result.
What i'm asking is I know this pan will bolt on but I wasn't sure if the oil Pump pick up or anything was in a different spot. From measuring and looking at pictures It seems as though it should work just fine. This one that's for the later. 216 also has the dipper tray.
As long as the oil pickup is submerged and the "squirters" line up, are clear and aimed OK, it should be good. You will have to see if the existing pickup will fit in the deepest part, or you will have to modify or find another. There is a procedure in the book about aiming the nozzles , I think they are supposed to squirt up into the little end of the con rod. I connected up a small regulated oil pump to the manifold, and adjusted them that way. The motor only runs at a few PSI at the best of times (maybe 5-6 when hot).
It’s been a long time since I’ve pulled the oil pan on a 50’s 216 but it looks like that pan was modified to allow access to the top bolt of the idler arm. If I remember correctly the idler arm had to be moved to drop the pan and the clearance to get to the top bolt was minimal. And when it was time to put that top bolt in (fine thread) it was easy to get the bolt cross-threaded. While modifying the pan for increased clearance seems a little odd stranger things have been done.
They modified the 1938 pan Because it's basically flat all the way across to clear the stirring on this 50 Chevy. Here's a picture of a 38 pan. Looks like they cut it all the way back to the drain plug.
I was just looking at the first pic, boy oh boy, the welds on the exhaust pipe are really something.....
Yep, most of these bombs that I work on are pretty hacked up underneath and they look beautiful on the outside LOL, Though this one's not so nice.
As long as the pan is off, I'd adjust the rods. Adds life to that bottom end, and you can check for acid etching in the babbit. Check the squirter holddown spring clip things, too.
I can't see the rear fenders clearly, but I think You're working on a 51, not 50 If that makes a difference. If my memory is any good, 49-50 fenders are bolted on with a little trim over the seam.51-52 were welded, no trim. That and the park lights look like 51. At one time I had one of the tools used to air the oil squirters. A fixture with 'targets' for each one, laid over the pan.
One of these things ain't like the other. So something looks funny to me. As in the oil pump doesn't have a tube or Pick up screen like usual and has this weird hexagon piece that just sits in the oil and doesn't seem right. Also, the pump sits in the cavity that the new Pan's dipper tube sits in. The distances from the top of the rail to where the rods go in the dippers are the same for both pants, so that's good.
Seems like from the factory. It should have had a screen, but since they hacked up the Pan and they put this piece on there to get oil from the bottom. Perhaps if I put a later 216 oil pump and related tube and pick up, it will work. Anybody ever done this before?
The break on the oil pumps is between 39 and 40. oil pan gaskets are different too. The full gasket set looks like it has two sets of pan rail gaskets in it.
I've got to talk to the customer today. But I believe he's not gonna go for changing the oil pump and pick up and Pan as it's gonna cost him too much money. Around 500 bucks in parts. I've got the Pan getting cleaned up right now. And I'm probably just gonna check all the Welds to make sure it doesn't leak and put it back on.
Ended up talking to the customer and you can't afford to do the parts swap money wise. I had the Pan cleaned up and filled it full of water to see if there was any leaks and there's at least about 10 haha. I tried soldering it up but then ran out of gas. I'm gonna take it to the radiator shop And have them solder the welds up.
Good luck Brian. Working on old cars and even finding the old parts is getting hard especially when you run into what someone did to get by years ago. Things (used parts) are a lot more expensive and shipping is up if not local. There are not many willing to work on the older cars and have the knowledge that your doing…JD
Those squirter tubes squirt oil into the dippers on the rods. They need to be unmolested or you could be saying some very bad words. There is a special tool to check and align the tubes. May be impossible to find now. Do not use that altered pan! Any pan from a 216 engine from about '49 back will fit. The sump may be a little different between applications but the oil tubes will be in the correct position. Try to get a pan that's still on the engine without signs of major damage and get the pump and pickup that came with that pan. Despite the opinion of some, with the rods adjusted properly, these are one tough reliable engine. Good luck. Try these folks for good used parts: Owens Salvage Co. in Texas. Very nice folks to deal with. 1-800-798-2581
Thanks for the opinions and the Owen's salvage number But I'll be putting the pan back on this motor as the customer cant afford to fix it correctly. It worked properly before and had good oil pressure. It just leaked like a sieve from all the crappy Welds from a previous person. I'm getting the welds braised up and it should be ready tomorrow.
Got the leaks fixed and it turns out the 1937 -8 -9 pan Bolt pattern is a different bolt pattern than the 40 and later. And the pan is a hair longer,Had to order different gaskets. Looks like my later pan wouldn't have worked anyway.
Chevy did a lot of changes between 39 and 40. I didn't figure out until a couple of years ago that my 48 had a 37/39 front axle under it as the spindle diameter was smaller than on later spindles where the inner race rides. When I was searching for the info I found in post 16 I saw that as usual The Filling Station and Chevs of the 40's both actually explain things a bit.
The only the only persons that had it was chevs of the 40s and rock auto .I ended up ordering it from rock auto and it should be here Friday so I can finish the job.
Chevs of the 40's rents out a tool for aligning the squirters, but there is a core charge of $375 and rental of $475. Item # 38352226. Somewhere I read that you need to use this any time you remove the oil pan for any reason. Anybody know if this is true? Even to replace the oil pan gasket? I'd like to replace my pan gasket, but will eventually swap engines - so no need to rent a tool like that just to stop a leak...... And I'd like to see what seals the oil going from the pump to the tube in the pan for the squirters! At least on the '47, oil pressure is somewhat misleading - the gage reads the backpressure on the filter. I guess this is somewhat related to the pressure of the oil going to the main bearings, but the mains get oil that doesn't go thru the filter. Filtered oil dumps into the sump from the oil filter return line. A clogged filter results in higher oil pressure! Mine runs about 15 when cold.
I replaced the Pan gasket on about 5 of these engines and have never needed a tool to re Align the squirters, as they don't move. Unless you unbolt them from the Pan.
Just for reference..... kind of gives you an idea of what the tools look like or maybe it just muddys things I didn't do all of this when I rebuilt my 216 back in 1973.....ten of thousands miles ago....and I've taken up the bearings a couple of times.
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