[DeTomaso] Puckered Oil Pan Bolt Holes

[Mike Thomas]

Clarification, this is an Armando aluminum pan.
 
Thanks Jack.  After I laid the pan over the block, I realized the the same
thing.  I've ball peened the puckers down and each side is flat to itself
but now have a very slight (~1/16-3/32) twist in the pan when I lay if
upside down on my woodworker's bench.  I get the same measure of twist when
I drop the pan back onto the block.  Feeling I need to eliminate the twist
to put an even load on the gaskets, I'm thinking I'll lay the pan top down
on the garage floor with one corner supported by a thickness just larger
than the twist and apply some weight straight down on the pan to get it to
move.
 
May sound pretty basic, but I don't want to have to buy a new pan, and don't
want to have to pull it again to redo the gaskets if they start leaking.
This has to get done right the first time.
 
Thanks again
Mike Thomas

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From: JDeRyke at aol.com [mailto:JDeRyke at aol.com] 
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2011 11:59 AM
To: mbefthomas at comcast.net; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Puckered Oil Pan Bolt Holes


In a message dated 4/16/11 10:40:45 AM, mbefthomas at comcast.net writes:



My first thought is to lay the oil pan on the upturned engine, and with a
flat-end block of hardwood over the bolt hole area, tap it back to flat
until the area is once again flush to the edge of the block.




Better would be to lay the pan on a board and tap the puckers down with the
ball end of a ball-peen hammer. You'll need to exercise some care, though.
IMHO the iron block won't yield enough to allow the metal to go past the
'neutral' point and spring back to flat. If you go too far, tap it back the
other way again. This is simply bodywork. If you don't have a ball-peen, a
large punch can be used with a std hammer. The key is only hitting it as
hard as is necessary. And be more careful tightening the little bolts- they
only take about 5 ft-lbs of torque & usually break before overtightening.
Good luck- JDeryke