Oil Pan Reinforcing & Scrape Plate

This month we visited Go-Ez Customs of Anaheim, CA., where they were working on an oil pan for a classic Bomb that had unfortunately dragged the oil pan one too many times. These "casualties of the Low" happen pretty often due to the stress customizations added to your ride. No different, the defying act of riding low had already taken its toll on the 235 engine, as the oil pan showed a huge slash as the asphalt had ripped through the bottom of the pan?much like the iceberg that sank the Titanic. This mishap could have been prevented if the stock 50-year old oil pan would have been padded with a scrape plate!

Today we are going to show you how master fabricator Diamond Dave reinforces the stock oil pan with a scrape plate. The benefit of this upgrade is that the oil pan will actually be structurally stronger and thus will be able to take the abuse of the asphalt when the vehicle is lowered onto it. If you accidentally scrape the frame and your oil pan hangs below the frame, it will help protect the crank from bottoming and it will keep the fluids inside the motor. Now follow along, as Dave handles this quick fix.

This stock oil pan has seen better days and in the past, might have been thrown away.

With a shortage of these classic parts, you need to work with what is available. In this case, the oil pan needed to be refurbished and made to work for the 235 motor that it came with.

Dave started off by using a stencil and a plasma cutter to cut down the 1/8 flat stock.

Once the metal was cut to the stencil, it was bent to allow it to wrap to the shape of the oil pan. This action will wrap and protect as much of the pan surface as possible

With the shape as close to what Dave wanted, it was cleaned up and the sharp edges were also knocked or smoothed out.

Using a large C-clamp allowed the metal from the oil pan and the metal of the scrape plate to be united and held in place, before they where welded together.

The pan was tack-welded and inspected for fitment before the start of welding on the oil pan.

The oil pan was welded in sections to avoid the pan from warping from the heat that the welding created. In order for it not to warp, you need to allow it to cool off.