Technical How to fix this beginner mistake?

So I obviously was not thinking about ground clearance when I installed my trans pan drain plug. I wanted to make sure it cleared on the inside of the pan, and it does, but it sticks down a lot further than I expected.
I am debating weather I should just remove it all together and have the hole welded up, or weld the nut to the inside of the pan so I can still use it and only have the plug nut stick out very little. It's on a 1954 ford o matic. I am lowering the car right now and havnt set it on the ground yet so I don't know exactly how close it will be, but I am pretty sure the first speed bump that I hit will rip that thing right out.
Thanks for any advice.

 

i'd weld a thin 1/2-20 nut on the inside and then use a SBC oil pan drain plug

 

you don't need it.

 

You're guilty of making an easily correctable mistake. No worries.

When you do what 36-3window suggested.....weld an oversized plate of sorts.......before the plug gets fitted. Any hang down at all will get you....but the plate may prevent it from tearing far enough....to at the least.... get you home.

Otherwise, I like what tb33 said.....it's almost better to just drop a pan in its entirety.....here and there. I have had leak issues with several pans, to know that oil gets drained more in an engine....then a ******. So screw it !! Just my .03 cents. Weld that fukr' closed.

I will say one of my greatest joys in life was watching an argumentative/lowered car guy, weld frame skids on his frame to clear plug height.....and then watch him hit a speed bump at speed...completely missing his frame points entirely. Didn't even make it out of his neighborhood. It still makes me gloat. lol

 

I would remove it or put it on the side of the pan if you feel you need one. JW

 

Leave it. Then wait until **** happens before you do anything. That way you will have a better story than telling folks you screwed up and fixed it before anything happened. And, if it does, what's the worst thing that can? Pan smashed and trans gone. Even bigger glory. And next time you'll think twice about building parts without factoring in all the angles. Right?

 

Like tb33 1/3 said; you don't need a plug for the ******.
You need to change the filter when you change the fluid.
Why do you want to drain the fluid otherwise?? Just curious.

Regards, Twobit
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Bingo. HRP

 

while it's true that you really don't need one , it just makes it a less of a mess when you do change the filter

 

change the filter? those things use a screen, that you clean out, you don't change it.

Nice mistake, you'll figure out how to fix it, I'm sure.

 

Just wondering: What percentage of cars we build get enough miles to have to change the trans fluid? Its certainly not an annual event.

 

Probably 5%

I'm in that group.

 

When are you supposed to change the fluid and filter?

 

Voodoo,
Using the flattie right?
Doesn't your Vic have the fill tube on the side?
I drain thru there when needed......


Bob

 

Ya you guys are right. Normally you never change the fluid. But I just got the car and have had the pan off and on 3 separate times chasing down leaks. And the dip stick nut wouldn't come off so draining it was a huge pain in the *** and a mess each time. I put the plug in one of those times thinking it would be easier.
I'll weld it up. Thanks for the replies.

 

Can you weld a threaded bung on the inside and run an Allen head plug with Teflon?
That's what the pan I have on my diesel pickup uses. Makes filter changes and band adjustments clean and mess free. Also, when you drain trans fluid, you really only change about half of the fluid. This allows you to refresh often if you burn the fluid without pulling pan/changing filter each time.


Summit has these bungs.
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/joe-37108?seid=srese1&gclid=CIi9zcrv9cECFYdffgod4UQAqQ

and these flush mount allen plugs
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-at993205erl?seid=srese1&gclid=CLSl3_Tv9cECFQhbfgodKDoAHQ

 

Thanks bambbrose. That is a good idea.

 

the old Fords have a drain plug on the converter, so you can drain quite a bit of the fluid.

 

if you put the nut in the pan . after you weld it to the pan cut a slot in it 3/4 the thickness of the nut so the fluid will drain down lower than the nut height so you do not take a bath when the pan comes off the slot will not diminish the holding effects of the bolt as its not holding anything together . I put my trans pan drains on the side after breaking one off when I got the front end up too high at the track . if you use a stall speed you should change the fluid out at 30 K because of the heat the stall generates , stock convertors 50K and if the fluid hasn't been changed in over 10 years or 75 K leave it alone . unless you want to have the trans rebuilt in a short period of time .

 

use a plug like this make it a bit more flush

 

How do you have the female body for the plug attached to the pan? If it's easy to remove, just cut the threaded part of the body so it's thinner and weld its hole up. Then put it back on the pan.

Jack E/NJ

 

...or bolt a caster onto it...

 

It took a couple of minutes to sink in. I don't care who you are , that's funny right there.

 

Thanks Mike- I scared my family when I burst out laughing

 

Easiest way might be ..Take the thing off and grind the nut thinner..Re-tap with 1/8 pipe tap, then use the allen head plug as shown ..That should buy you enough clearance.

 

Anybody who's ever actually driven a heavily lowered car knows that no mechanical part should EVER hang below the frame rails. If it does - even by an itty-bitty bit - it's going to get ground up, smashed flat and then dragged off eventually. The only safe recourse this man has is to weld up the hole he drilled and find another location for the drain plug...preferably on the side of the pan where it's protected by the frame rails. Otherwise he'd better invest in some comfortable walkin' shoes.

 

True.
The tans on my F100 has a temp-guage sender on the side of the trans, if I need to drain the trans (which I've had to twice) it's a simple matter to unscrew the sender unit from the pan.

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and sometimes with rubber or flimsy motor mounts you have to be careful as if you hit a hard enough bump the motor will stay in the same plane but the frame rails will go up leaving the bottom open to damage . seen this happen on a few poorly designed remotor jobs one dropped the motor snout on the crossmember and the pan was flattened as the pulleys /dampner made a horible noise

 

This is on my Power Glide pan. JW

 

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up welding the hole up. I didn't want to take any chances. And next time I do need to drain it, I'll just unscrew the dipstick tube located on the side.