[DeTomaso] really dumb question about oil

B Hower b.hower3400 at yahoo.com
Thu Apr 12 14:15:31 EDT 2012


Now guys I have a question for you. With a stock 5qt pan on a Pantera  and 5 qt of oil including filter ( after engine run so that filter is filled ), What should the dipstick read ?? What was Ford's published oil capacity for the Pantera?
 
Mike, IMHO your dipstick tube is too long, if 26 inches from the top of the dog knot to the tube entry point is a good measurement. I too have been doing some measuring and compared my #s to the posted Larry Finch information. Also I have a stock USA 351C with standard tube and stick with the DOAE-6750-A  # stamped into it. The two tubes ( Torino and Pantera ) measure the same from the bottom of the knot to oil pan opening ( which doesn't have a thing to do with oil level check -- except it guides the stick as the tube enters the engine at an angle). My Pantera dipstick measures the 38" from lower side of the flange to the tip. My Pantera tube from the top of the dog knot to the tube entry point measures close to the 25" mentioned in the Larry Finch information. That measurement varies depending on if you measure down the outside of the curve, inside the curve, or down the center line. If you have an o'ring type seal just below the knot it will
 vary the full line to pan relationship. 
 
What I'm finding is that the standard Ford full mark doesn't match any of the information I have received on the Pantera. I'm checking from the bottom of the knot to the full mark. The standards full mark is lower in the pan than my Pant era setup. When I get my engine ready to run, I plan on running it on a test set up with a stock 5qt pan so I can insert the standard tube into the engine and check 5qts of oil level. I have two more tubes and sticks in near running Clevelands. I will test more than one. Then I plan on inserting the Pantera tube into the engine with the 5 qt set up. Then I can mark the stick or cut the tube to read what I need. [ I can't find an oil capacity in the orange book, though page 53-01-02 states: Do not add oil past the full mark; any extra oil added will be wasted ]. I should then know where Ford wanted the level to be with respect to the crank etc. Thus the larger pan can then be filled to match the full mark. I can hardly
 wait !
 
Humbly,
 
Bud #3400
 
 
 

--- On Wed, 4/11/12, MikeLDrew at aol.com <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:


From: MikeLDrew at aol.com <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] really dumb question about oil
To: chrisvkimball at msn.com, detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Wednesday, April 11, 2012, 10:57 PM



In a message dated 4/10/12 21 51 43, chrisvkimball at msn.com writes:


> Since the end of my dipstick tube was shortened, all I have to know is 
> the correct distance between the end of the tube and the leading edge of the 
> bar, and it will reveal how short my tube is (this has now moved into the 
> "how can anyone resiste that joke" territory...!)
> Anyone want to run out into their garage and take that measurement for me?
> 

I have an extra original dipstick and tube.

The length of the tube, from the flange where it enters the block, to the 
end of the tube where the dipstick enters, is right about roughly exactly 26 
inches.   It's difficult to measure it accurately; I used a piece of masking 
tape along the outside radius of the curve, then pulled the tape off and 
measured it.

As an aside, I feel like an idiot.

For years and years I've been telling people about the Ford TSB, that 
1971-72 Panteras came from the factory with a dipstick that was too long, and 
that it needed to be cut and shortened to measure exactly 38 inches, blah blah 
blah.   Cars with a proper-length dipstick then had their handles painted 
yellow to signify that the work had been done (and cars made after 12/72 came 
with right-length dipsticks).

While screwing around with my engine the past few weeks, I took the 
opportunity to buy a replacement dipstick and tube off E-bay, since the support had 
broken off my tube and was lost, so the tube flopped around in the breeze.  
My new assembly arrived, stripped to bare metal, so I had the tube 
powdercoated and installed it.

The dipstick was in pretty rough shape, but the handle was yellow.   Mine 
was black, but I always assumed it had been painted black (when I bought my 
car the whole engine was black).   I decided to check, and lo and behold, my 
old dipstick was unmodified and thus too long!

So for the past 21 years I've been running around with my oil level too 
low!   DUH!!!!!

In comparing the lengths of the dipsticks, I could see that the 'full' mark 
on my dipstick is just about equal with the 'add' mark on the proper-length 
dipstick.   Rather than cut mine and braze it per the TSB, I'm just going 
to treat 'full' as 'add', and throw another quart in whenever it gets down to 
the 'full' mark.

Still, DUH!

Mike
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