Took off oil pan and valve cover

I took off the oil pan and the Valve cover just to see what the car looked like inside and here is what it looked like.

got a surprise when i took the paint and the J B Weld off from around the drain hole. (looks like a crappy brass fill job).

Did the pan and the valve cover come in this Ford green or should i Paint them black?

Hi Bob,

Other than the repair to the drain plug she doesn't look bad. What model and year is the car? Buick used several engine colors depending on the year. My 37 is green and that makes the eco people happy..... Sorry, I could not resist.

Robin

What model and year is the car?

From another thread "34 model 57"

Yes, it is a 1934 Buick model 50 . I haven't been able to find any factory pictures of engine colors . I wanted to repaint them the right

color before putting back on.

Bob,

You could check with OCM (Sandy Jones) as to color. He has a PAIR of '33's.

While you have the pan off, don't forget to "flatten the flange". See my posts on this.

How is your oil pressure ? If low, you could emory the bottom plate on the pump. Lots of posts regarding low oil pressure here.

I would not re-braze the drain hole. Get a good drain "bung" and WELD in in. You will thank me later............

This is also a good time to check leaking front and rear seals. Lots of posts on "fixes" for this too..

As long as you have her down this far, just some things to check.

Mike in snowy Colorado

There are several members here that have 34's. Marty Roth is one for sure. Hopefully one of them will see this thread and chime in with the engine color.

EDIT... I just checked Bobs Automobilia and they list Dark Green for 1931 to 1938, SEE HERE. This is what I used on the 37 and it looks great.

R

Mike,

Thanks for all the advice i went back through old 'oil pan' post and learned a lot. Your pictures are great too. Where can i get a new drain bung? Can i melt the brass off the one that is on there

and use that , just weld it back on instead of brazing it? Tell me more about the 3/8 inch nut you used in the oil pump intake, i'm not understanding that.

thanks

Bob

Bob,

Yes you can melt the brass off the pan w/ acetylene torch, and get a "bung" from any good NAPA store. Should come with a drain plug too. Failing that try McMaster-Carr.

Oil pump= First check your bottom plate and see if it has a leakage pattern like mine did.Then, on a FLAT steel plate, lay down a sheet of 60 grit emory paper and sand in a circular motion JUST TILL the leaking passages go away. Put a THIN coat or #2 Permatex around the edge and screw her back together.

3/8" nut= Since mine is a high mile, never touched engine, I pulled the old "used car lot" trick. Take that big brass nut off the side of the oil pump and you will find a spring and a piston. Make sure the piston slides freely. I used Scotch Brite to polish mine. Slip a 3/8" spacer (old nut) behind the spring. Forces more oil into the system, instead of letting it out the pressure relief hole. Used to do this years ago at the Dodge dealership I worked at. back when all cars had gauges instead of "idiot lites". I won't mention what we did to speedo's with a drill...................

Mike in snowy Colorado

There seems to be 2 different oil pump bottom plates. Some are pot metal and some are steel. I'm not sure when the change occurred. If you have a pot metal plate, I'd clean it up as described, but since it is already a part that is prone to warping (if you see th above leak pattern) I wouldnt increase the spring tension to increase oil pressure. It is a weak part and increased oil pressure will just make matters worse.

Obviously - just my opinion.

Here are some pictures of the oil pump. What screws would i take out to check for the LEAK you are talking about? I'm unsure what part to sand smooth.

Bob,

Though your pump is a bit different than mine, your "bottom plate" is the thin plate with the 3(?) bolts just above the pick up screen.

That big honking screw in the middle of the cast housing seems to be the pressure relief port, so inside there must be a spring and piston.

Your pick up screen appears to be stationary and bolted to the pump housing in the center, whereas on my '40 (320cid) the screen is attached to an elbow that articulates, based on oil level.

I found my float /screen detached from the elbow, and laying in about 1.5" of grey mud at the bottom. This is after driving 140 miles back from Denver, when I picked her up.

Got lucky on that one!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Than goodness for all the help I got from the forum guys (Jolly John) etc, that told me the very first thing I should do is to pull the pan.

Mike in Colorado

Bob,

If the bottom of the pump portion above the oil pickup screen area is a bolted-on flat metal plate, then this is the one you asked about.

Upon dis-assembly, you would likely find that this plate is worn where the spinning gear above it has worn into the plate, leaving excess spacing. Milling this plate, preferrably in a "Figure-8" motion on a crocus cloth or jewelers cloth on an absolutely flat surface could resurface the plate to be smooth and level. then, bolting it back in place, you can immerse the pump in a can or tray of oil, attach a pressure guage to the discharge end, and turn it with a hand-held drill or a drill-press. your pressure should be restored. I did this with the oil pump years ago on my '27 Chevy and it made a dramatic improvement.

Good Luck,

Marty

Ditto Marty's idea !

Bob,

Now that you know what to do, we need to see pictures of the bottom plate after you pull it off and have cleaned your pick up screen.

I will post more pics as i go, it's winter time here in Michigan and i don't have a heater in my garage so when it gets a little warmer i'll be out there.

I will post more pics as i go, it's winter time here in Michigan and i don't have a heater in my garage so when it gets a little warmer i'll be out there.

I agree with that statement ... Single digits for daytime temps stinks .

Also,

with the bottom plate off check the distances from the gears to bottom of the pump housing. I have also cleaned up the bottom plate with some satisfaction but the gears also were worn so I had to take the pump housing a flat surface and do figure eights on a mid-grade sand paper to take off a few thousandths to get a better tolerance between the gears and the bottom flange.

As a further FYI,

my 40 had the pot metal bottom flange that was way too warped to go back in. My spare engine from a 41 90 series had a steel bottom plate.