Oil pan "rail" washers

[tony-muscle]

I don't know for sure what their names are, but I am looking for washers that follow the rail to use to tighten the oil pan of my Cleveland instead of the standard round washer. I think you could distribute the load a lot better by using a "rail" washer of sorts. I seen it for other engines but probably not made for our Clevelands. If not I guess I could use thin steel rectangular bars with 1/4 holes.

 

[73pony]

I have thought about fabricating something like this as well.

 

[Sheriff41]

Oil pan reinforcement rails or oil pan spreader bars. I haven't seen any for Cleveland application.

 

[tony-muscle]

So either getting a 1/16 or 3/32 thick, 1/2" wide, strip of steel, then cutting and drilling it to fit in between the holes. Or using rectangular washers (I found some in McMaster https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/130/3695/92516A180). The washers are 1 1/4" long and SS 18-8, which limits how much you can work with them. Or using strips of perforated steel flats. Will get to work!

 

[Bentworker]

If you can’t find them draft something up and have a local waterjet or laser place cut them out.

 

[jasonwthompson]

Might slow your car down, but would something like SBC valve cover clamps work? If you happen to have a ruined pan you could cut the rails and double them up.

 

[Stanglover]

Good idea Tony, but I would think you'd need them to be at least 1/8" thick or thicker to spread the load over their length. Thinner material would do nothing.

 

[tony-muscle]

@Stanglover I agree that 1/8" should be the minimum.
I really don't feel link getting 1/8" thick bar and drilling 20 holes so what I am thinking is of using is the rectangular washers which will give me a 1 1/4" spread. I think that should be good enough for its purpose. For those bolts in the curvy areas I could use perforated bars from the hardware store or just drilled a few holes on solid bars.

 

[Stanglover]

@Stanglover I agree that 1/8" should be the minimum.
I really don't feel link getting 1/8" thick bar and drilling 20 holes so what I am thinking is of using is the rectangular washers which will give me a 1 1/4" spread. I think that should be good enough for its purpose. For those bolts in the curvy areas I could use perforated bars from the hardware store or just drilled a few holes on solid bars.

The washers might be a good alternative and save time.

 

[tony-muscle]

I am way behind posting my winter progress but at least I wanted to share how I handled the washers. Again, as a reminder my mods try to lean more towards practical than concourse. Although I tried to keep the car "stock" looking from far we all know it is nothing but....
In any case, here is what I ended up doing, which may not look the prettiest from below but I don't care about that view point. I got myself a bunch of "mending" braces from Ace, which have the perfect width. I then cut them in half and used the existing holes. These holes are barely 1/4" so I just made a quick pass with a 1/4" bit which took thousands off each one. I had to slightly notch the corners of the end washers. On the curved part of the pan, where it goes around the oil pump outlet, I followed the same idea but using the thinner mending braces.
Results: not ideal, but better than standard washers. Ideally the hole would be in the middle. After about 1/2" away from the hole I don't think there is much pressure so no need on having too much length. I think a 1" long rectangle with the hole in the middle is all what's needed. So far I have zero leaks but I am not going to give any credit to the "washers", rather the credit is due because I used RTV to seal the oil pan. Although RTV is a pain for removal and cleaning afterwards, it creates a good oiltight seal. I had to use RTV because I added a crank scraper sandwiched between the oil pan and block that inhibits the use of a gasket so RTV is used on both faces of the scraper.

 

[73pony]

Nice. I have the same oil pan and have had leak issues since day one. very very minimal. I might give this a try.