VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Replacing Oil Pan Gasket on a 1929... Thoughts

OK, so got time this weekend to remove the oil pan...

What a pain, not that it was hard to access, but the previous owner decided to remove the Standard Gasket and use the great make your own gasket in a tube method :/ What truely a pin to remove the pan that was adhered to the bottom of the engine. Had to drop the left & right underpans to remove all the goop tha thad oozed out, then use a razor & putty knife to gently separate the pan from the block. took my time and used some colorful language of how fun this was. but got the pan off, with out distorting or bending up the rails :)

also did a quick look up inside the block to check on things noted above. Here is what I found of concern:

1- With the Oil Pump: No screen (Part No 835779), just the Oil Suction Pipe, Guess Also need the Spring (Part No 346770)
2- 2 of the 4 Connecting Rods seemed pretty loose on the crankshaft, they easily and freely slid from left to right with out any effort. The other four were pretty snug on the Crankshaft.

Good thing was everything was coated and covered in oil, as well as all the troughs were filled with oil when I dropped the pan.

Pictures here, scroll down to see the bottom half: 1929 Oil Pan Removal

Sounds like you will probably have a lot of work to do on the engine.

Yes, work it is

In looking at the Master Parts List 1929-30 It list under the Oil Pan Section (Page 5) for the 1930 as using .250-20 UNC Round Slotted Head Bolts Both .562 (9/16) & 1.000 Lengths. As well as Lockwashers and PLain Washers. I figure it was the same for the 1929 ??

If so what lengths went where ?? and lock / plain washers or one of each on each bolt ??

When I took the pan off the previous owner had used standard hex hed cap screws.

Now to try and find The Screen & Spring for the Pipe Part No: 835579 & 346804, are there any other parts i need for this, And anyone who has a spare set for sale, PM me, also any picts of this together would be great.

When I had the pan off my 32 a couple of years ago I noticed the rods moved back and forth on the journals about 1/16th of an inch which to me was excessive. I was told not to be concerned about it so I have been running it ever since. There are no knocks and the engines runs fine.

Managed to pick up some Plastigage on my way home today, since our local auto parts carries it :-) Also got some time to look at One of hth two free moving connecting rods, number 5. Took off the nut, dipper and lower half. The babbitt looks great, all of the rods have been redone. Has the cross path in top and bottom, with holes drilled in.

So cut a strip of Plastigage (.001"-.003" size) and put it back together to see where we are currently. When I removed the cap to check the Plastigage fell out untouched. Would explain the free movement. Removed and counted shims, about 5 or so on each side. removed them all installed 2 on each and went from there on checking clearance with plastigage. Now with the proper shimming and such my clearance is just between .0015" and .002" which seems to be the recommended clearance range, closer to .0015"

Now I will check each and every one to make sure my clearnce is set properly and equally. The other 5 should go faster then the first, but still taking my time as i go through them.

I would adust ALL the rods using the method in the shop manual You can not get them tight enough with the plastigage. For the 1929-1936 engines remove shims till you can not move the rod back and forth by hand but can move it with a light tap from a small 8 Oz. hammer.
There may not be any shims left to remove.In this case a patch job can be made by filing the rod caps in the area where the shims would have been. If filed too much shims can be used to get the correct adjustment.
It would be a good idea the check the babbitt on the rod its self to see if it is pounded out. Note the ate original 192 rods did not have the criscross oil groves in the babbited area. If yours has the groves new or reconditioned rods have been installed at on time.

Yes the engine has been rebuilt and has zero road miles on it, only been run for an hour or so total no load time, see my video here of what is sounded like before the adjustments and tuning started: 1929 Rough Running/ Sounding... Any Thoughts ??

The rods and bearings have been rebabitted, new pistons, rings, and pins. and you said
how tight is that ?? from the postings on the forum everyone says .0015 - .002 is the target range, with .002 being to loose ??Figured Plastigage would be the best method to achieve this clearance ??

Connecting Rod 1
Connecting Rod 2

Using the 8oz hammer method you mentioned:
with that light tap, should the rod just barely move ? what about being to tight and burning/ scoring the babbitt material or the crank ??

All it should take are light taps to move the rod sideways on the journal.

The babbitt is a relatively soft material and can "self adjust" if it is properly adjusted and lubricated so it does not melt and smear on the crank. I and I am sure others have found that plastigage is good to get approximate indication of gap but if that is the only method the bearing will soon be found to have too much gap. I suspect that most of the tales of bearing failure and modern opinion that babbitt bearings will not hold up is due to trying to apply modern bearing fitting techniques to these older engines. The rest are 80 year old babbitt getting old and cracking.

The method in the repair manual is tried and true. Been used for 80 years with success. Just remember these old Chevy engines are not exactly the same as modern engines so small deviations from modern assembly techniques are warranted.

At .002" you will hear loose rods. If not right away will show up in a few thousand miles.
Plastigage is not accurate enough to fit at .001"
I know severl guys that used the Plastigage method and ended up having to readjust the rods.
Plastigage is fine for a full pressure engine with inserts as they get more oil pumped into the bearing to take up the extra .002" or .003".
If it were my engine and is freshly rebuilt I would break-in with 5W-20 oil. Much better than the #10 the factory used when the car was new.

At .001" on the rods you should be fine, but the "tap" method is the only way to go. Plastigage ain't gonna cut it!

Sounds like a good plan to me, use the plastigage to get me in to around .002" zone then switch over to the tap method.

Just want to make sure it is right and last, but do NOT want to over tighten it by any means !!

What Hardware is Correct for the Oil Pan on a 1929 ?? When I took the pan off the previous owner had used standard hex hed cap screws.

In looking at the Master Parts List 1929-30 It list under the Oil Pan Section (Page 5) calls out .250-20 UNC Round Slotted Head Bolts Both .562 (9/16) & 1.000 Lengths. As well as Lockwashers and Plain Washers.

If so what lengths went where ?? and lock / plain washers or one of each on each bolt ?? as it does not call out Quantities !!

The longer bolt is used for the bracket that holds the oil gauge line.

1/4-20 slotted round head machine screw with lock washer and flat washer. The longer one was for the bracket that supported the oil line near the back of block. Later another long one was used for the bracket on the road draft/oil fill tube.

ok so it sounds like i need .250-20 slotted head machine screws that are .562" (9/16") long, with a flat washer against the pan, then lock washer on top of that (between flat washer & machine head screw). Lock washers should be split lock washer, or external star washers ??

Also what is the recommended torque on these guys, or just hand tight ?? since they are slotted heads

Split washers and tight. No torque specs until mid-30s or later.

Very nice 1/4 - 20 round head slotted "stove bolts" are available from the Fastenal company in stainless at a fair price.

Your local hardware store has them too.

Awesome, will have to pick some up or order some.

Have an Account with a few of the Fastener Places through work so get that stuff just above cost. Always a nice perk to have Connections

Once I clean the pan up, will make sure the rails are straight, and then see about painting and such, then reinstall. still need to finish up on the main bearings (checking clearances & setting), Connectin Rods and bearings, and oil pump. Need to get that all done before i close it back up underneath.

While stainless is great as it doesn't rust it does require extra care to have paint adhere to it properly. Seeing as only the head of the screw is visible and if properly painted rust should not be a problem, standard steel screws in my opinion will do the job nicely and more economically.

I am more apt to the Steel, as I have my concerns in regards to the Stainless hardware and the Iron Block with Galling. Would need to use some anti-sieze. Since we deal with all of these materials on a daily basis, we try NOT to mix certain materials under certain conditions due to reactions :!

I was thinking of blackening some steel hardware and see how that comes out. or just leaving it zinc coated. Did some blackening for other hardware and looks great.

Yes....definitely go with plain old steel bolts.

OK, so was a good weekend to get some work done on the 1929 !!

I was able to check and set the clearances on the Rod bearings, and check the main bearings as well. I used the recommended tried and trued method of removing shims and tapping with a hammer. Also found out that all of the connecting rod bearings had too many shims, 2 of which i could move freely and easily with out ANY effort by hand. Babbitt looked great on all the rods.

Also check the check ball and it is free and resting against the pin, and can be easily moved.

Cleaned up the pan, looks like it will need a paint job :/ so need to clean it up and paint it. But got time
Oil Pan 01
Oil Pan 02
Oil Pan 03
Oil Pan 04

Can paint while I am still hunting for the 1929 Oil Pump Suction Pipe Screen & Spring

Need to get this & paint the pan so I can install the Oil Pan Gasket and close up the bottom half of the engine and move to the top half.

Hi Bearsfan315. Your topic has developed a common issue here at CHAT, it starts as a simple topic on replacing the pan gasket, and evolves into an engine rebuild discussion. The issue this creates is that valuable knowledge on engine rebuild stuff gets overlooked during a later search because of the topic title. I always recommend members start a new topic every time they switch gears so to speak. This keeps the search for info later much simpler and keeps the topic responses fewer in number. Your 2 gasket topics are now near 100 responses, everything from paint to babbitt! Just a suggestion to help us all keep track.