6 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Another question while we're talking about such things... I've noticed that they used a number of different designs for the heat shield between the pan and the exhaust. I've got three different versions here. Top two are one style, third is different, and bottom is different again:

Question for the Z trivia guys... Anyone know the lineage? What year(s) used which style?

This is a '79 F54 ZX pan and backers. Looks like the 3rd in CO's box. But mine has an extension on the top towards the rear. It was a 2+2 ZX if that scratches your itch a little more.

 

 

Site, the shield in your pic is the top two in my collection. It's the only one that pushes inward towards the front to follow the contour of the pan. The others in my pic don't do that.

AZDatsun, My 77 also has that top two design as well, so with your data point and Site's, it appears that style was used at least on 77, 78, and 79.

According to the documentation, all the 240, 260, 280 used the same part number for that support - 11123-N4200. There is another part number listed for the 240 and 260- 11123-N3300, but I suspect that was for the very early cars and was quickly superseded by the later number. So they may have changed the shape of that heat shield on different years, but they never considered the change to be significant enough to warrant a change in part number? Form, fit, and function, they are all interchangeable apparently?

I have no visibility into the part numbers for the ZX stuff... Does anyone know if they used a different version on the turbo? I ask, because one of these may be from a turbo motor, but to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I've kinda lost track myself.

It does look like the 2nd one. I was looking at the two gaps in the seam. 

 

turbo motor

Bingo. Thanks Patcon. So the bottom one in my pic is turbo. The overhang shields the oil line out the side of the pan.

On ‎7‎/‎17‎/‎2020 at 1:08 PM, Av8ferg said:

Looks like an oil pan hoarder to me!

"Collector".      

I am going to resurrect this thread since sealing our oil pans never ends :-)

I posted back in 2015 that I used a gasket which was sandwiched with Permatex Grey. It lasted me till 2024 (9 years) when the oil started leaking again. And boy, it was a major b$tch to remove it! Then I decided that I probably shouldn't be applying semi-permanent solutions again lol.

I removed/cleaned both surfaces, made sure my oil pan was straight and applied a thin layer of Permatex Black to the oil pan to glue the cork gasket. Once it was cured, I put the oil pan back with a few dabs of Black in a few spots where the FSM is asking for. I installed the reinforcement 2 metal pieces and applied small torque to bolts per FSM. I did the same to my valve cover and it is working. It also makes it super easy to remove to do valve adjustments.

Well, the oil pan gasket lasted me 6 months, the oil is leaking again.

I think, it was Captain who asked if someone could manufacture a nice long thick reinforcement piece (we will probably need 2 for ease of installation)? If someone makes one, please sign me up.

10 minutes ago, darom said:

I think, it was Captain who asked if someone could manufacture a nice long thick reinforcement piece (we will probably need 2 for ease of installation)? If someone makes one, please sign me up.

I made up a CAD file for better / longer reinforcement pieces and ran some quotes. The costs were higher than what I was willing to deal with at the time. And that was before covid.

If there is interest, I can open that can again and get a fresh quote?

That would be great. Thanks. I also started looking into getting an aluminum pan and found the one that MSA sells (made in Japan):

https://www.thezstore.com/product/5261/price-drop-kameari-high-capacity-oil-pan-70-78-240z-260z-280z

It is pricey, but the number of hours I spent on sealing the oil leaks in that area should justify the 1k price. I wish this pan had a groove built in with a rubber o-ring style gasket that GM cars use. My understanding is that the perfectly flat aluminum pan combined with the MSA's competition style gasket (i don't think it needs any sealant) should provide a good seal. What do you think?

Oh, and the last time I did an oil pan, I did things a little different. First the same:

I bought a cork/rubber combo gasket like Datsun used originally and I used permatex gray (a very tiny bead) on both sides of the gasket. That tiny bead hopefully will not make it very difficult to get the oil pan off again if I ever need to. Hope I never need to, but hoping it won't be a battle if I ever do. After applying the tiny bead, I I torqued the pan into place and let the sealant cure.

That much of the process is pretty much what I had done in the past. Then I did something different...

After giving the sealant a couple days or so to cure, I went back, and ONE BY ONE, I removed the bolts, put some blue thread lock on them, and torqued them in again. My thinking on this is twofold:

First, the gasket had time to compress and take a set. This was confirmed as I was taking the bolts out because some of them were looser than they were when I put them in couple days before. And second... The torque spec on those oil pan bolts is so small that It barely even compresses the lock washer. I'm thinking that maybe not even enough to prevent the bolts from loosening over time.

So my theory, which is mine, is that the blue threadlock will keep the bolts torqued (even at such a low amount) while giving the gasket a day to take a compression set before final torque will keep the gasket under pressure.

Won't know for a while how successful that whole thing was, but I'm hopeful!

8 minutes ago, darom said:

My understanding is that the perfectly flat aluminum pan combined with the MSA's competition style gasket (i don't think it needs any sealant) should provide a good seal. What do you think?

Well the reinforcement strips weren't as expensive as that aluminum pan! I'll re-run the numbers when I get the chance.

I've never seen one of those pans in person, but if it's stiff enough, a gasket should seal without goop. In thoery.

https://www.arizonazcar.com/engine This is where I my pan was purchased. It has hinged baffles and holds an extra qt. of oil. Very heavy duty.