[DeTomaso] FW: Oil dipsticks that can actually be checked!

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/2/13 1:41:50 PM, rob at dumoulins.net writes:

> Guys,
> Where do I get a dipstick that routes to the back of the engine?  I'm 
> tired of it being a major effort to find the fill hole to put it back in.
> Michael Shortt has exactly what I want, but didn't know where it was 
> sourced from.
> 
Rob, this is not a simple mod.- you can't just drill a hole in the back of 
the block & stick a piece of metal in it. Because the 351-C has a std. front 
sump oil pan, the oil dipstick must go into a portion of the pan that's 
deepest to give you a correct reading. Don't know of a commercial assembly, but 
I built a side-stick arrangement last Fall, using an Aviaid 10-qt pan. This 
is easier than using a stock pan because the Aviaid sump depth is the same 
from front to a bit past the middle of the block. 
It required a hole in the pan's side at a certain point for a contoured 
steel guide tube to keep the dipstick from tangling with the crank & rods. 
There was also a small hole needed through the pan's internal windage tray and 
right side scraper. The new guide tube is brazed into the steel pan; the 
dipstick protrudes from the engine's side up between the #3 & #4 header tubes. 
Obviously, it also needed a new length dipstick. I shortened one from a 7.3 
Ford Powerstroke Diesel.

It's possible to extend my mid-block side-dipstick and guide tube 
arrangement up to the right gill where I currently have a circular access door for 
radiator cap water access, but I haven't done this. If successful, it would 
look similar to the current Porsche Boxter setup, accessible for water & oil 
level checks without opening the deck lid at all. 

Or you could rotate the stock dipstick 90 degrees with a whole new 
guide-tube and access it thru a glass-less right rear quarter window opening. Only 
problem I see is the initial threading of a guide tube past the alternator & 
belts, and punching a hole thru the right engine side cover. Early 351-W's 
installed in vans had a dipstick much longer than the stock Pantera, and can 
be shortened to fit about any arrangement you can think of. Good luck- J 
Deryke