My 7 second Oil Catch Pan

[Ondonti]

Well not exactly. It needs to be 2" deep but there is no way I was going to get clearance so its slightly more then 1" deep and its not quite level with the ground. Thats fine with me cause it now sorta acts like a belly pan. I had to cut out the corner to allow my wastegate to dump properly to the ground.

Since my e85 motor is a stocker and I dont know how much it can handle, I figured building the pan was better then chasing oil leaks in a motor that might be dead tomorrow.

Cost = free, which is why there is a seam in the middle cause the scrap sheet metal was not wide enough. I came up with the idea around 4 yesterday and after failing to find a good piece of sheet metal (places closed) I went with what I had and finished this around 1 AM. About 5 hours of total work. Looks crappy but I am pretty excited to run my motor now without getting booted from the track, and I know the track manager will be happy about it cause they made a rule that all cars 11.49 or faster must have them. Not quite fast enough to be required but I am actually happy that I have it now even though I complained last year with the new policy. The NHRA rules for a 7 second pan are pretty ridiculous, because they flat out would not work on our cars...we would have tires hitting a "legal" pan. I was originally going to try to tuck it into the engine bay and then i decided to let it hang below so it could catch drips from the edge of the K frame too (just barely reaches pas that inside edge).

[Ondonti]

BTW my airdam is not installed in this picture. it hands down almost to the ground so there won't be tons of air rushing into that pan. Without an airdam I think this would be a bad idea.

[Reaper1]

I thought I wouldn't like it, but after looking at it, I kinda do! OK, so it makes it kind of a pain to inspect the engine from under the car with it on, but if it is easily removed, who cares!?

I actually might work on something similar over the summer for my Z...I wonder what it'll do for cooling and front end stability with aero effects at high speed? Even though most of the air that gets under the car get defleced by the air damn, it sill may be helpful. I still would like to do a full belly pan!

[Ondonti]

Well this covers the edge of the K frame all the way across so I won't catch air there. The Airdam should prevent the front from catching air. The pan hangs lower towards the back. The "bend" in the front is actually where it is tucking over a lip in the front motor mount. That helps it stay firmly in place.

Its held on by 4 straps that I made by cutting worm gear clamps in half. 2 in back are held in place by the front swaybar bushing bolts (interference...just clamped down) and then the fronts are connected to stuff in the front. Same interference fit. So i just have to loosen 4 bolts and the pan drops. I dont know how easy that would be without the car being on jackstands. The Airdam makes it freakin hard to get under the car. I can only go from the side. I can adjust things slightly because of the worm gear clamp straps. I can take out or add slack. The rear straps are welded to the pan, the front are bolted to the pan near the top.

I am happy with the worm gear straps for now. Not sure if they will stay tight.

If I was going all out I would change the wastegate pipe dump location and make the pan "full size"

[jamesmonty]

That should do a nice job catching the rods when you blow them thru that block.

[crazymadbastard]

um, your pad goes faster than your car?
I like how you make your own stuff and post it, keep it up I have learned quite a bit from posts like this.

[t3rse]

can you not just use a diaper?

[Nemesismachine]

sweet, now when the car leaks oil, you can spill a full quart onto the tires and the track when you take off. I like it! James bond car, just launch! :P

[Ondonti]

it already caught about a teaspoon of oil on my test drive last night. :P
Keeping it dry is going to be interesting. I cant race with a puddle going on

[Aries_Turbo]

dump some cat litter in the pan to soak up the oil

Brian

[badandy]

That should do a nice job catching the rods when you blow them thru that block.

LMAO! I just pictured you saying that in your perfect Mr. Anderson voice

[jamesmonty]

[mr Anderson voice]Pistons, rods, pieces of the block. You got that good buddy? You got that it there? [/mr Anderson voice]

[1966 dart wagon]

that's hilarious, but I'm sure works just fine

[tsiconquest88]

why dont u fix the oil leak lol?

[Big_P]

you coulda tack welded the two halves together and then ran a big gob of RTV instead of trying to weld it shut completely

[Ondonti]

I did both. weld all the way down and RTV :P

[Blown426Hemi]

It Must Be The Rain

[MILKCARTON]

I love it! It looks like some sh!t I would do... nice stack of tranny's in the background(looks familiar)

[johnl]

It has to help with drag at the big end.

[Ondonti]

I love it! It looks like some sh!t I would do... nice stack of tranny's in the background(looks familiar)

Guess I never updated but I went back to the track that year and ran 11.5 with the motor still a pile of leaking junk. I just stole another piston/rod out of that motor in September 2016. The motor is currently a Mitsubishi Diamante 10:1 block that requires external oil filter so the leaky hoses drape into the pan. I have had the pan on since I moved the car from my parents (where it sat/leaked a few years) to its shop space. No leaks on the floor the last 2 years.

I need to weld a nut onto the lower radiator/crossmember because the hole I was using for one strap is stripped out (just a screw).

I could probably add something to block more air. That was never the intent but I was glad that undercar air didn't rip the thing off even when its been barely attached at times on the front. The little cut in half wormgear clamp straps are weak but the actual attach point is barely there. One front is smashed in place by an extra nut on the front engine mount stud, the other no longer held by stripped screw. The rear is clamped under the head of the swaybar bushing FWD bolts on each side.

BTW, I found that this pan makes quick work on some things very annoying, plus when you drop a tool, now it lands in an unreachable oily location. It covers the front engine mount which I normally like to use to quick jack the entire front end. Another annoyance. It is easy to remove by loosening the clamping bolt/nut at each location.