Engine Splash Pan for 1918 six, 242 engine.

[Morgan Wright]

I went to drop the oil and pan in my 1918 E-49 last week and found the entire underside of the engine was blocked by a splash protector. It snapped out of the way but I can't imagine putting it back. Roads in 1918 were mud and rocks and horse poop, but modern roads don't require this and I thought maybe another Buick owner whose car was lacking one could use it, for shows or something. I imagine back in the day, mechanics just threw these things away to make it easier to work on the cars, so I bet a lot of survivor cars lack them. Especially since they look like the first things to rust away.

 

It's a curved piece of sheet metal about 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. A few rust holes. Any takers, make an offer. Probably good for H-49, K-49, 20-49, 21-49 as well as the 45's and maybe others with that motor. They used the 242 for several years.

Edited December 4, 2017 by Morgan Wright
not for sale anymore (see edit history)

[Grimy]

Someone restoring a Buick of this era for judging should make a serious offer.  Pierce-Arrows thru 1920 (like my 1918) had "belly pans" which are larger than the one Morgan describes, but cost $5,000 and up to duplicate (including a couple of hinged access panels and their surrounding raised areas) for show cars.  My 1918 P-A has an exposed external oil pump which is protected by the belly pan.  Although my belly pan needs to come down even to replace a lower radiator hose, which is on my over-winter list, I'll clean the pan and reinstall.

[Morgan Wright]

They are a pain. Roads were pure mud in those days. Some of the things on my oil pan (actually not an oil pan, more a "lower crank case") are the oil level pet cock (no dip stick), oil filler pipe (cannot fill with oil in the valve cover as usual,  because there is no valve cover), and the return oil tube from the dashboard oil gauge. Some of those things can get ruined by mud.

[Morgan Wright]

I think I'll patch the pan and keep it. OK now you hate me.

 

After I've done the mechanical work under the car I'll put it back on for novelty value.

[Terry Wiegand]

The reason these pans are so often missing on the early six cylinder cars is quite simple.  My '16 has a rather short radiator in comparison to my '22.  All of these cars back then came from the factory with the belly pan as standard equipment.  The first thing that happened when the new owner took the car in for service was the pan was taken off and thrown away.  The reason for doing this was because the pan restricted air flow through the radiator and caused the engines to run hot.  A lot of these old vehicles did not get much over 20 mph and thus the air flow through the radiator suffered dramatically.  The pans are somewhat scarce because of this reason.  This tidbit of Buick technical knowledge was passed on to me by the late David W. Chambers back in early 1990.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas 

[Morgan Wright]

Thanks for the tidbit. Here are some pics. First the pan:

[Morgan Wright]

There are 6 clips on the pan as you can see. Here's a close-up of one:

 

 

[Morgan Wright]

On the frame are 6 clamps with springs to hook each of the clips:

 

 

[Morgan Wright]

The small hole in the pan is for the speedometer cable to pass through. In 1918 the speedometer cable attached to the right front wheel.