Any reason to not use a cast aluminum oil pan?

I've got a SBC and the oil pan is oily and the paint is peeling. I know I can clean it and repaint it but for some stupid, illogical reason I have always lusted in my heart for a finned aluminum oil pan.
They aren't very expensive.
I know it's dumb, and no one will ever see it once the motor is in my '51 Chevy, but when I see a motor with one on it the 5-year-old in my brain says "Golly gee! VROOM VROOM!!"

Best I can tell they probably seal better than steel pans (just like all the aluminum valve covers I've used tended to). The only thing holding me back is the idea of one cracking or breaking. How real is that threat? It's going in a car with an '82 Grand Prix subframe so the crossmember will protect it from hitting the road.

Should I go for it? Or is it just a dumb and unnecessary expense?

 

With the crossmember protecting it, I can't think of a reason why you wouldn't want to go with one. In addition to your other good reasons to have one... oil cooling can be added to that list. I don't think it'll be drastic, but it's gotta help.

The only reason i'd shy away from one would be if it was in a slammed car with no underside protection for it.

 

I'm not gonna lie to ya, I have seen them get cracked and leak and even seen chunks get taken out them. However if the car has good ground clearance and the croosmember to protect it, it should be fine. I say go for it!

 

My 66 Shelby had a 7 qt one. It was way cool. That's what came on them. It worked just fine and looked cool as hell. It had the wings, fins and said COBRA powerd by Ford on the sides.

 

I had some questions about aluminum oil pans a while back.
Here are some other responses that may help you decide:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=271747&highlight=malcolm+aluminum




Malcolm

 

Since in was a 289 the sump was in the front and the car was pretty low. I never had any damage or clearence issues.

 

I'm familiar with that pan! My father had a '66 GT350 when I was growing up. When I was being born he had to shove my mother in that thing and race us to the hospital.

It was the only car that had gas in it at the time. lol...

 

That's a good way to start life. Love it.

 

oooh i saw 2 of them just yesterday..and for only 75 bucks..I was so tempted to buy one for my A project..and the dip stick bump was on the correct side too

although i have to say one of them looked like it had cracked and was welded and cleaned back up..but the other one was perfect..

Im still on the fence..and it would match my cal custom valve covers..and they (the pan) is a bit more visible in an A..
if that dam thing is still for sale next weekend im going to see if i can talk him down 5 bucks..its at a flea market near my home.

thanks Man i think you just did me in

 

I have a couple of cal custom pans and can't wait to use the,only problem I am having is both my car and truck are air ride so I will be considering a skid plate of some kind.
I personally would stay away from the cheap as **** foreign knock-offs

 

I have seen 2 of them broken. One from road debris and another from a speed bump. Both high dollar very well built cars.
I would stick to steel, they tend to bend and not shatter.

 

Their worst fault is that they do not dent, they crack or chunk into pieces.

 

There's a reason you can't get through NHRA tech with one...

 

Speed bumps,,we spent several hours in the rain trying to replace one,,we ended up buying a rusty pan of a sbc behind a garrage on the interstate,,

We laugh about it now but 20 years ago we were not happy campers. HRP

 

good point..maybe i will re-think this

 

Go for it if theres a crossmember under it, just dont over tighten dem bolts. It'll keep your oil temp. down a hair too.

 

i had one start leaking right through the side from a small pinhole

 

I saw one completely deeeestroyed by a small tree limb in the middle of the road. It was a factory job on a northstar caddy. You have to remove half of the front end of the car to replace it. Fun times.

 

damn man Randy, i thought after coming down and ****in up your beer we was tighter then that!!!!!!!!out scrouging the feas for hot rod goodies without me!!!!!!

i started to put one on the vega wagon..figured i'ld be cool about clearance....3 1/2" at the pan in it...then i remebered the one i seen let loose on a freinds motor..was just rebuilt and installed...settin there breaking in the cam..shut it down and about 15 minutes late we heard a "tink",,,,and saw oil running out from under his car...was told by a old engine builder that they could just break form heatin and cooling IF they weren't torqued down just so....my buddies had split from side to side diagonally.....

 

Buy one and hang it in your garage and look at it whenever you want.

 

Sorry, But I can't find anything in the NHRA rule book that says no Aluminum oil pans. I have seen many Aluminum oil pans in NHRA. Many Pro Stocks run Stef's or Jeff Johnston's not to mention the Fuel cl***es pretty much all run aluminum pans.
Of course those are fabbed pans, is there something I'm missing that says no cast aluminum pans?

 

its all good man..im was out with my ladies and they talked me into taking them to this junkareaha..i just was lucky to spot these two aluminum pans..
wasnt much "good" stuff there..needless to say i walked out empty handed

 

Oh I love Northstar oil pans! It's a pain in the *** but it's alot of $$ in your pocket when it's all said and done...

I am also a fan of the newer plastic intakes...

and the starter under the intake...boy o' boy is the northstar great.


On the alum. pan deal though, only disadvantage is they crack...

I want to find one for my 303's but I don't know if they make them...anybody know?

 

Besides the cracking and chunking or shattering (ask me how I know!) porosity can be an issue. If you really feel you have to use one despite all the highlighted problems and form is more important to you than function, at least coat the inside with POR 15 to prevent seepage.

 

rdscotty's got it right hang it on your wall not on your engine, years ago we were coming up Hwy 1 on the coast of Ca with about 9 or 10 hot rods when we came around this corner there had been a small rock slide, family cars went right over the rocks but in our hot rods s****ping the road we started dodging the rocks my buddy Gary in his 37 chev tried but caught a stone with the side of his tire and shot it right at the pan that rock blew a hole so fast that 5 quarts of oil were on the road and he had to kill the engine to keep from blowing it up, we had a hell of a traffic jam for a while until we hooked a tow line on and pulled him about 60 miles up Hwy 1 to a Standard station put it on a lift to fix it, we knew a car guy in Carmel we called and in about 15 minutes we had another aluminum pan delieverd to us our friend said he didn't use it and would not use it because of what just happen to Gary.

 

The last half dozen late model oil pans I touched were cast aluminum.

The bottom line is if you put any oil pan in harm's way, you need a better plan than hoping for a dent instead of a crack. Like a shorter sump.

Ever knocked a hole in a steel pan? I have, a couple times. Some of these things are unavoidable on the road.

Oh, and some aftermarket aluminum pan castings are total junk. Would be interesting to work some of em over with point mics and see how thin they really are. I suspect shifted molds and thin spots are to blame for alot of the "aluminum pan" reputation.

 

Having paid very close attention to what everyone has to say, I just don't think I'll be able to relax with an aluminum pan on there. I am too paranoid. I'll be laying awake at night worrying about cracks. If I were not the worrying type I'd go for it, but I know myself and I AM the worrying type.
So I'm going to get a chrome one instead. (I don't know why that didn't occur to me in the first place. I guess I was just hypnotized by those beautiful fins. Ah, the fins...)
Thank you, everyone!

 

On the other side of the Shelby aluminum oil pan coin the R models (race) had steel 7 qt pans with the wings for extra oil.

 

Having sold auto parts for 25 years might I suggest getting a Milodon pan. Those chrome ones are all made in Taiwan and China. They don't seal worth a damn and the chrome goes bad rather quickly.
I had to eat almost every one I sold.

 

+1 on this whole post. I wouldn't want to whack ANY oil pan, regardless of material. The original pan in my wife's stock, '69 Corvette has had it's drain plug ripped out from dragging, would the oil have run out any faster had it been aluminum? The oem tin (stop calling it steel, it's sheemetal) is not bulletproof. BTW, if you raise the motor up when you're building the ch***is, the I-beam axle should s****e any offensive debris out of the way of the pan anyway.