Oil pan, which is correct

[Scott S.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

William stated in his original post that his goal is to take his car to flight judging. I understand his desire to have his car get the minimum of originality points deductions.

If the '65 JG calls for his car (based upon the engine) to have the 5 qt. "system" pan, he will take originality point deductions. Same thing on the steering stabilizer/damper. This might be a case of changing a factory item to conform to the JG. How many times has that been done? -Clark

I would guess many times, at least in the case of insufficient knowledge. But if you discover, with a high degree of confidence, that your car was originally a certain way, and it does not conform to the current judging guidelines, that's a different situation. At that point, I think it would be very difficult to knowingly change something that you know is correct for your particular car, just to satisfy the guide book.

Besides that, it's more interesting being the exception to the rule

[Ray K.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

William -- All

If the P & A catalogs are to be considered, from 1965 on, the defining link for the oil pans is -- with or ( without ) mechanical lifters. Only the 365HP and 375HP engines had the mechanical lifters and therefore the 5 quart pan.
That puts the 350HP L79 with hydraulic lifters into the 4 quart category.

Early pans were #3820000 4 quart pan = 5 quart system ( Hydraulic )

"" "" "" #3820001 5 quart pan = 6 quart system ( Mechanical)

There is not a notation or other info in the parts catalogs about early L79's having a 5 quart pan. I think if this were true, there would have been some reference to the pan changeover in the catalogs.

The service bulletins advise the release of power steering for L79. But with manual steering it should have had the steering stabilizer. However, I did encounter Corvettes that did not have the stabilizer unit on them and so would then provide the components over the counter to owners of such vehicles.

Ray

[William C.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

Actually, the Pan and pump are married in the Corvette world as the Mechanical lifter 365hp and 375hp engines used a high pressure oil pump and a pan with an extra quart of capacity. The 350 hp versions did not use the big pump and thus did not need the extra quart of oil to keep the engine from starving at high RPM. The big pan deleted both the use of the stabilizer and also power steering. It's not obvious in the AIM, but it sure is if you try to drop a big pan engine into a chassis with the damper installed.

[Wayne M.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

.....This is not the only thing that I have discovered may not be covered correctly in the 65 Judging Guide. I have a rear differential casting with an assy date of 10-30-64 that is part #3830303. JG says it should be 3871375......

Bill -- welcome to the world of early '65 components. Your trans might have the grind mark that all Muncie assemblies had up to the date shown below; if yours is later then just a direct stamp on the edge of the maincase. Then, on the driver side, where the VIN derivative is stamped, is it 51xxxxx or S1xxxxx, or a '5' with a 'S' overstamp (usually larger font) ?

Also, on your '303' diff cover, have you had occasion to check if the fill plug is fine thread or coarse (NPT). My '303' on a AP 9 17 64 assembly has a coarse thread plug.



p

[William C.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

My current car is 6362, not technically an early car, but I once owned SN# 838 (as I remember) in both the 1964 and 1965 model year versions but that was about 30 years ago. I'll look at my case and see what the situation is on the Muncie code, may have another case or two available to check also.

[Joe L.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

Bill------


Early 1965 did use the 3830303 carrier housing COVER so the JG is incorrect if it says that all 1965 used the 3871375 casting. I doubt that the carrier housing COVER with casting number 3871375 was even a released part at the outset of the 1965 model year.

Corrected to add COVER

[Geoff B.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

I have a 1964 L76 and somewhere along the line the oil pan was changed to the 5 qt pan that has 2 dimples on one side and 3 dimples on the other. I have been searching the usual sources for a 6 qt pan and have not found one. Does anyone know where I can get one? Thanks in advance.

[Joe L.]

Re: Oil pan, which is correct

I have a 1964 L76 and somewhere along the line the oil pan was changed to the 5 qt pan that has 2 dimples on one side and 3 dimples on the other. I have been searching the usual sources for a 6 qt pan and have not found one. Does anyone know where I can get one? Thanks in advance.

Geoff----


They show up on eBay with some regularity. Usually, they command steep prices. There is a good reproduction available for the 5 quart pan but there is no reproduction I know of for the 6 quart. That's probably because the cost of tooling up to produce these pans is large and the market for the 6 quart pan is quite small.