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Shiv, I have one of the Canton oil pans that I've re-installed three times. At this point, I just have a slight weep. For me the trouble area was the rear corner on the driver's side. There appears to be an internal oil return tube that returns oil from the top of the engine to the oil pan at this corner. Even with the oil drained, oil drips from this spot. At the same time, the engine and oil pan flanges at this spot are very thin - maybe only 3/16 inch wide. I think in my last install, I used the blue Permatex gasket maker. I applied it more generously than I might have liked and let it set up fully as per the instructions. While it was setting with the oil pan still off, I shoved a paper towel or rag up into the engine to catch the dripping oil from the return tube to prevent the oil from washing onto the flange. It likes to leach to this thinnest part of the flange.
The other issue with the Canton pan is the flywheel is exposed. You may need three or four of the 1/8th aluminium shims from Canton to fit a flat plate over the flywheel (depends on what flywheel you have). I don't think you want to be spinning off into some gravel trap without this area being covered. I made my own flywheel cover out of a piece of metal roofing that extends over the bottom portion of the engine, but will one day tweak my design a bit.
Hmm that's interesting. Did you notice a difference in oil leaking between using the usual gray RTV and blue Permatex? I was planning on using a generous amount of RTV when installing to minimize the dripping, so interested to hear your experience on the Permatex alternative. As for the flywheel, Canton actually sent me a separate cover plate to install. Did your pan not come with one or was the fitment not right? Hopefully I can make it work somehow.
Well, Canton sent me the flat plate too. I'm not sure of all of the details, but I have an AP2 and the stock flywheel is too thick to use that plate without shims. The AP1 might have a thinner flywheel. But then if you opt for an aftermarket flywheel, that can be a different problem. Initially Canton did not send the shims. But now they will if you ask. I would try to order up four shims just to be safe.
The plate will cover up 99% of the flywheel leaving only a gap at the very top of the plate (flat edge). Some portions of the engine block are then exposed, say a total of 8 square inches. I suppose this is OK because it is not areas internal to the engine. But it bothered me. So when I made my flywheel cover, I made triangular tabs to cover these areas.
I've tried to upload a picture. Although I can't see it, perhaps you can. In the upper left is the Canton plate that came with my oil pan. In front of that are two shims that they sent me about a year later. These are only 1/8 inch thick, so maybe four are necessary. When I first installed the oil pan I did not have these shims. The flat grey piece in the foreground is a prototype of the flywheel cover that I made, but did not use. Just to show I made out of flat stock. In the upper right is a more recent version made out of aluminium. Note the pointy parts that fit on the bottom of the engine block. Note how I shaped the metal to fit around the flywheel. I was still not satisfied with how this piece fit. I'm not sure if I just reused my original piece or if I made yet another new one that is now on the engine.
As far as the gasket maker sealant, I suspect you will be all right with the RTV. Just let it set up real well before you tighten down the pan. I think the first time I did not use enough and didn't wait long enough for the set and it leaked in the area discussed in the prior post. Second time I used aircraft sealant which just melted away. Third time I used the Permatex. I thought it was the blue, but it might have been the grey.
The picture came out! Nice fab work by the way! I am indeed using an aftermarket flywheel so I will definitely make note of it relative to the plate. As long as the majority is covered up with the canton piece, I'm mostly okay with that provided there aren't any other clearance issues. If so I suppose I'll make something up as well. As for installing you mentioned letting it set before you tightened it all the way. When I installed my blacktrax pan I just applied the rtv, fully torqued the pan down in the correct bolt sequence and let it sit for 24 hours. Is the proper technique to only partially tighten, and then fully tighten later on?
Lol I'll take a drippy oil pan over another toasted engine any day. On a side note, any idea how often I'll be needing to add oil?
Ooh I may have to steal that sticker lol. Definitely agree on the hardtop. Although I don't currently have the points for it, I would LOVEEEE the Spoon hardtop.
Totally agree on the louvres, they definitely feel like solid pieces. Are you planning on doing anything for rain situations? I have some extra alumalite and was considering making some kinda cover for when conditions get rainy and the car is parked.
I'm actually going to be ordering the same hitch setup that Billman used. Love the fact that you can pop the 3 pins easily and remove the whole hitch when on track. And I'll be using the northern trailer as well. It doesn't come totally finished, so I plan to bolt on a piece of plywood and then attach a toolbox, and some sort of retention system for the tires as well. I will be sure to document the whole process.
Agreed that small oil drips are nothing more than a nuance until the oil get low in the engine. As Paul said, when running N/A it is rather unpredictable so you need to check it all the time. When I run the forced induction I would just add a 1/2 quart at the end of each day. I now have a custom made re-circulating system where the catch can is routed back to the oil pan.
One other down side to the leaky pan is your under carriage is constantly covered with oil and track grim, and if you do go off track you will end up with an unbelievable mess when all the dirt stick to the oily piece. I used to degrease and then pressure wash the under carriage after even race, I was fearful of the oil buildup catching on fire. And YES - fire ext is a great idea.
Here is the hitch I have and its a simple design. I never did get around to installing it because I been so busy during the track season. I also bout one of those tiny trailers with a tire rack. Never got around to putting the tool bot on it. Make sure you have a way to lock the tires or they will disappear quickly. Chase Race - Honda S2000 Trailer Hitches
So yesterday it dawned on me that there's only a few weeks until the first event of the year and I haven't touched a thing on the car. So in a frantic move to get some mods done, I decided to install the hood louvers. While my "garage" is more of a moldy shed that a medium sized goat could knock over, I said to myself "Why not cut this bad boy apart on my living room coffee table?" So that's what I did.
Its warm, can have the tv on, and beer is very close by indeed. The measuring wasn't too difficult and the supplied templates worked nicely as well. My only gripe with the templates is that the indicated cut marks are a bit too large. Ill show you what I mean in a couple pics.
Once the measuring is done, its just a matter of slicing away the upper layer and the skeleton underneath. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel and it did the trick. Not gonna lie it looked pretty cool with the upper layer removed. Kinda like the Terminator with its metallic skeleton showing through the flesh.
Once the skeleton is sliced out, its a matter of lining up the louvers and riveting them in. Here's my gripe about the templates. While the openings themselves were mostly symmetrical, before the louver is riveted it has a lot of space to move around. I would have wished the openings were smaller so they could move around less when installing. This is more of an issue if you are installing it yourself and don't have a spare set of hands to help out. But otherwise I'm not concerned, and boy do they look cool!
Looks cool, extracts heat, reduces front end lift. Sounds like a mighty fine recipe. Hopefully they perform as marketed!
Awesome. I'm a fan of living room mechanics!
here I was installing a turbocharger on my Suzuki 1000 back in my college apt living room back in 79-80...
You and I would have been friends then
03-15-2017, 04:36 AM
