[Stripey]

I have put maybe 50 miles on the motor so far and was looking under the car today....my oil pan is interfering with my centerling (slight rub on the belly of the pan and i have contact with the side of my pan with the centerlink and inner tie rod ends, mainly the tie rod ends) There is a dimple where the passenger side inner tie rod grease fitting made contact to the pan. The grease fitting has since broke off. Upon further inspection the oil pan looks to be on the front section of the cross member. This is awesome Well...if i would have known the hassle of this oil pan i would not have bothered but too late now. On top of that i cant change my oil filter without unbolting my header or mounting a oil filter relocation kit. Its a Milodon pan, i cant remember the part # but i think its the MIL-30950 or very similar (it can be used with stroker motors)
Its a 468 in a 1970 chevelle.

Now my guestion:
Can i shim my motor up ever-so-slightly to get it off the cross-member and if so, whats the best way?

I think i could grind some of the steering stuff to make everything clear without rubbing and not hurt the integrity of the components....has anyone had experience with this problem?

thanks for your help
adam

 

[Tom Mobley]

lots of people have had these problems. DId you search on here before buying the pan? Chevelles are a little picky about pans.

 

[Just_Another_Mike]

You can do the shimming with some washers, I would recommend Grade 8. I would not grind your steering components.

 

[Stripey]

yeah...i never realized that chevelles were picky about their oil pan. I thought i was getting a standard type pan with the different rear sump, but someone told me otherwise after i had assembled the motor and was about to drop it in. It never crossed my mind that it would not fit correctly so i proceed to drop it in...i was wrong. I did search and found the idea about shimming the motor up but wasnt sure how to go about it. Also read about how someone ground a little off their steering components and got it to work as well which is why i was posting the 2 ideas and tossing them around.

adam

 

[Just_Another_Mike]

I've got the Milodon 30955 pan which is for a Gen VI block and almost punched a hole in one side of it with the zirc fitting on a tie rod end. I shimmed it up with 3 washers on each of the 3 bolts on my motor mounts and then had a good person tweak the center link so I would have turn-to-turn clearance.

 

[Stripey]

define the word "tweak".....im going to look further into this tomorrow and see what i can address before the weekend is over. Thanks mike

adam

 

[MM Racing]

I know exactly what you are talking about. I bought a high dollar Hamburger race pan just to find out it hit both rod ends. I ended up taking the pan to a local fab shop and they notched the pan where they were hitting.

 

[Georgia69]

Had same problem on my 69 with 350 and a deep pan. I put a couple of shims between the block and the motor mounts to raise the pan off the crossmember. For the tie rods, if you look closely, you will see that Chevelle inner and outer tie rods are identical except for the orientation of the grease fittings. On the inners, the fitting points straight out, and on the outers it points down. What I did was just remove the tie rod & sleeve assemblies and flip them over...make the outers into inners, and the inners into outers. This way, the blunt end of the tie rod impacts the pan, not the pointy grease fitting, so you won't poke a hole in your pan. The only problem with this plan is, it's a little more trouble to get your grease gun on the fittings. You have to remove the wheel to grease the outers, and turn the center link just right to do the inners.

 

[Stripey]

Had same problem on my 69 with 350 and a deep pan. I put a couple of shims between the block and the motor mounts to raise the pan off the crossmember. For the tie rods, if you look closely, you will see that Chevelle inner and outer tie rods are identical except for the orientation of the grease fittings. On the inners, the fitting points straight out, and on the outers it points down. What I did was just remove the tie rod & sleeve assemblies and flip them over...make the outers into inners, and the inners into outers. This way, the blunt end of the tie rod impacts the pan, not the pointy grease fitting, so you won't poke a hole in your pan. The only problem with this plan is, it's a little more trouble to get your grease gun on the fittings. You have to remove the wheel to grease the outers, and turn the center link just right to do the inners.

thanks for the advice...i didnt know if the greese fitting location came as a standard spot on that tie rod or if it was a manufacturer deal....i dont have a problem flipping the tie rods like u said....rather have a problem greasing the joints than having a hole in my new oil pan

 

[GRN69CHV]

Let me guess, you have Moog Tie Rod Ends. Look nice and beefy, but cause intereference problems. Replace the tie-rod ends (inners) with different ends. Don't know the correct part numbers, you will have to ask around. This was an issue for Super Stock cars due to deep pans and stock chassis. You can have the center linked thinned out a little, don't know if I would do it for a street car though.

 

[Stripey]

Let me guess, you have Moog Tie Rod Ends. Look nice and beefy, but cause intereference problems. Replace the tie-rod ends (inners) with different ends. Don't know the correct part numbers, you will have to ask around. This was an issue for Super Stock cars due to deep pans and stock chassis. You can have the center linked thinned out a little, don't know if I would do it for a street car though.

i rebuilt the frontend about 4 years ago so i honestly cant remember what brand i used. I will take the inners off and take them to the local parts store and compare the size to what they have on shelf...ill let yall know what i find out. Before i decide to grind anything (if i do) im going to see what shimming the motor does and replacing the inner tie rod (or flip them) and this will give me more of an idea on what i should do about the centerlink

adam

 

[Georgia69]

Another solution, if you want to buy new tie rods, is buy four outers and use two as inners and two as outers. Then, all the grease fittings will point downwards.

The advantage to flipping the ones you already have, though, is that as long as you don't adjust them, you'll have the same total length and won't have to pay for an alignment to re-set the toe-in.

 

[Stripey]

Another solution, if you want to buy new tie rods, is buy four outers and use two as inners and two as outers. Then, all the grease fittings will point downwards.

Thread is reverse on the inner compared to the outer

I did get most of the shimming done today and it has helped alot. Going to finish up on the washers tomorrow morning and then see what clearance i got concerning my steering when talking about the side of the pan....the centerlink is off of the belly of the pan now:hurray:

 

[Georgia69]

Thread is reverse on the inner compared to the outer

Good point...my bad

 

[Stripey]

well...all is good now...too bad i cant drive it on this nice day we are having...midterms suck

 

[Rowdy]

I had the same problem. At first, I grease the ends, then ground off the ball end of the zirc. Eventually, I replaced the fitting with an allen pipe plug (flush). The way I figure, when it's time to grease them again, I'll swap the plug for a zirc and back to the plug.

I also loosened the idler arm mount and pryed it down ward, while tightening it back up. Just taking out the play, seemed to provide a bit more clearance.

 

[Tom Mobley]

I had the TRW/NAPA/whatevah inners, the zerks stuck out the back. Pissed me off because they were hard to grease, so I ordered Moog, same thing.

Then an old-timer pointed out the obvious: the inners have hardly any movement wear'n'tear compared to the outers, don't need greased but every couple years. Sounds good to me.

 

[Stripey]

i just replaced both inners with ones that had the grease fitting in the rear but i greased them before i mounted them....i should be good for a little while considering how much i drive it