The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop oil pan interchange 216 - early 235?

I have a 1950, stock 235--low pressure, babbited, mechanical lifters. Today when pulling into the garage I noticed a significant oil trail. Take a look under the car and see that it's pouring right out the bottom of the oil pan! It's not a matter of the plug being lose--this is right in the middle of the pan. It must be rust out--this is a MIchigan vehicle, after all, and the guy I bought it from had welded in new floor pans, so I know there was significant rust on the underside.

I could try to epoxy this hole shut, but I have a 216 engine with a cracked block sitting in my garage. I know these engines are both low oil pressure systems with troughs in the pan for the dippers on the rods; my question is, are the 216 and early 235 oil pans identical? I.e. could I simply swap the 216 pan onto the 235 and be good to go (assuming the trough alignment on the 216 is okay)?

Thanks for any input any of yous guys might have on this!

"I have a 1950 Fleetline Deluxe with Powerglide. Stock 235--low pressure, babbited, mechanical lifters."

Is that reference to mechanical lifters a mis-type?

If not, did you (or a previous owner) change the lifters to mechanical/solid?
The Powerglide engines in 1950 had hydraulic lifters.

Have you adjusted the lifters? What technique did you use?

Tim,

Thanks for that info! I thought I had read that hydraulic lifters did not appear until the '53 Powerglide 235 with the full-pressure oiling; after checking the link you shared (and confirming with the 1950 car shop manual supplement), I stand corrected.

Strange, though: the valve train on this engine is noisy as hell, though (I just got it running about a week ago and haven't adjusted the tappets yet), so that also fed into my assumption that they were mechanical. Perhaps I have a collapsed hydraulic lifter or two in there?

At any rate, I've got to patch up or replace that oil pan before I get back to tune-up work!

I seem to remember that the oil trough measuring tool was different for the 216 and the 235. To me that would suggest that the pan is different too.

Here is an oil pan "interchange list".

It looks like many 1952 and earlier 235 & 216s interchanged?

37-39 same
40-52 same (except for Powerglide)

Since the 235 has a longer stroke, the height of the dipper troughs on the spray-oiler engines will be different between 216 and 235 engines. A 216 pan on a 235 will make the rod dippers hit the troughs, and a 235 pan on a 216 will end up with oil-starved rods at idle. To avoid problems, dipper pans for 235's have "235" embossed into the bottom of the pan in numerals about 2" tall.
Jerry

As you can see in the parts book Tim linked to, Chevrolet sold the same oil pan to fit 216s, and dipper 235s.
The factory 1941-49 235 pan was embossed with the 235 stamping as Jerry mentioned.

What the parts book does not say is that the troughs would need to be adjusted to match the engine it is installed on.

Thanks, Dave

Maybe it should be noted that some vendors might rent the "aiming tool/gauge)?

Excellent info, gents--very much appreciated!

I was thinking there might be some sizing differences in the troughs, and Jerry confirmed my suspicion. Very well--it's going to be JB Weld for now, and I'll wait for a permanent repair or replacement until things warm up next spring.

Thanks guys!

PS: The good news is, I caught this leak early. I had at least 3, maybe 4 quarts in the oil change pan I slid under the car as soon as I spotted the leak, so I know I did not oil starve the engine--thanks to God for that!

Sealing an oil pan leak with JB Weld is going to be difficult at best- - - - -getting the pan clean and dry enough for the epoxy to get a good seal is a real challenge. Are you dealing with a crack, a rust pinhole, or what? Rust holes in particular are problematic, as the hole on the outside is usually the "tip of the iceberg" with a much larger thin spot on the inside. Remove the pan and get it completely degreased inside and out, and maybe get the area around the leak beadblasted to give the metal some "tooth" for the epoxy to grab onto.
Jerry

Jerry,

Just a pinhole. I will eventually be pulling the pan, cleaning it out, and checking out the integrity of the metal from the inside. I just need to keep this car moveable right now. I did grind down to clean bare metal an area about 2" diameter around the hole, and cleaned it off with brake cleaner right before I spread the epoxy on. I'm pretty confident it will hold as long as I need it to. The nice thing is that I only drive this car a few miles at a time, so I'll be able to keep an eye on it to see if it springs a leak again.

I patched a 216 oil pan with JB Weld myself many years ago, and it worked fine. Stopped the leak. I did remove the pan and clean it inside and out as best I could, as Jerry mentioned. And, sometimes a quick fix IS necessary to keep something going. Good luck with it.

Just a pinhole

Pop rivet

A sheet metal screw with a rubber gasket on it may be a easy temp fix.

Unless you use a huge sheet metal screw or pop rivet, you'll definitely need a new oil pan before you're done. The metal surrounding the hole will be paper thin and unable to hold a repair tightly enough not to leak again.
Jerry

JB Qwik seems to be holding up pretty well so far. I spread it pretty wide and made sure it was pretty thick right over the hole. I ground down to clean, bare metal and then cleaned the application site with brake cleaner, so I'm confident I got a good bond. I figure when I pull the pan I can clean the inside really good, and then reinforce the patch on the inside; if that looks unfeasible I'll see about getting my hands on a good 235 pan with troughs.

Thanks for all the feedback.