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I recently got my 74 running with the 406, but it has too much oil pressure. It has direct lube solid lifters so I thought it would be a good thing to put the high pressure spring in the Moroso blueprinted pump, shoulda just left it alone because now even after it warms up it will carry 95 psi at anything over 3500 rpm. Cold it has 80 psi at idle.
Is it possible to get the pan off without pulling the engine?
It really runs great, better response than I expected for an engine with so much cam (.570 lift and 259 degrees duration at .050) and an 850 DP carb, I want to drive it instead of pulling the engine back out, but I will if I have to.
TIA
Mike
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It can be done. The pickup fell out of the oil pump on a 350 in my '70 Nova years ago. (I weld them all in place now.) I needed to drive the car to work the next day. (It was my only transportation.) I pulled the pan with the engine in the car. I don't remember if I jacked the engine up or not. I do remember that I dropped the pan down and had to remove the oil pump bolt and drop the oil pump in the pan before I could pull the pan. I think putting the pan gasket back in place was a little tricky. I was riding the next day. Amazing what you can do when you have no other choice.
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ya you can do it but you will have to jack/hoist the motor up and remove the one side of the cross link for the steering (the side that attaches to the subframe(undo the passenger side idler arm it has two bolts attaching it to the subframe)...that will allow the pan to come out...I just did this the other day with my Nova and that was what I had to do...
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Last edited by 69NovaSS; 5th-April-2006 at 07:43 AM..
Yes, It can be done.
After I jacked the car up and unbolted the motor mounts, it went pretty much straight forward. I do remember seperating the idler arm to swing the drag link out of the way..and the distributor for clearance.
Funny, I was dealing with too much oil pressure also. Went back to the dealer and ordered a plain jane pump. Nothing fancy..
tpinova11 is right. Weld not press, the pick up tube on the pump.
Yes, It can be done.
After I jacked the car up and unbolted the motor mounts, it went pretty much straight forward. I do remember seperating the idler arm to swing the drag link out of the way..and the distributor for clearance.
Funny, I was dealing with too much oil pressure also. Went back to the dealer and ordered a plain jane pump. Nothing fancy..
tpinova11 is right. Weld not press, the pick up tube on the pump.
remove the one side of the cross link for the steering (the side that attaches to the subframe(undo the passenger side idler arm it has two bolts attaching it to the subframe)
Quote:
Originally Posted by capt-camshaft
I do remember seperating the idler arm to swing the drag link out of the way..and the distributor for clearance.
Drag link!!!!!!...thats the name for it ...crap I was trying to remember the name this morning and all I could come up with was cross link...I knew it was not right but I couldn't remember the correct name
Like everyome else said, yes, it can be done. I did it in my '76 which is slightly different than 1968-74 Novas because the drag link is in front of the subframe crossmember. The crossmember is farther back and I had nothing to remove for clearance. Remove the dist and motor mount bolts. Then jack up the motor and place wood blocks between the 2 motor mounts halves. When I pulled my pan out, the front would hit the crank so I would have to rotate the crank for it to clear the first counterweight, slide it back until it hit the next counter weight, rotote the crank again until it cleared and then it hit the next counter weight, etc... A pain but it worked.
On my 68 with a BBC and a manual with a scattershield you have to pull the transmission to get the pan off. If you are running an auto; my guess is you won't have a problem.
I recently got my 74 running with the 406, but it has too much oil pressure. It has direct lube solid lifters so I thought it would be a good thing to put the high pressure spring in the Moroso blueprinted pump, shoulda just left it alone because now even after it warms up it will carry 95 psi at anything over 3500 rpm. Cold it has 80 psi at idle.
Is it possible to get the pan off without pulling the engine?
It really runs great, better response than I expected for an engine with so much cam (.570 lift and 259 degrees duration at .050) and an 850 DP carb, I want to drive it instead of pulling the engine back out, but I will if I have to.
TIA
Mike
the only time running high oil pressure is a problem is if you use a stock pan and pump all the oil to the top end of the motor at higher rpm's. if your pan holds 7-8 qts of oil you will be fine with that pressure. ive run that psi on the street several times and never had a problem.
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Thanks for the info everybody, looks like that will be tomorrow nights prodject, I want to get the engine glitch squared away and get my subframe connectors in so I can get the exhaust put on. Weather is getting nicer here in Colorado and I want to hit the track soon, and also a criuse night or 2.
I am running an auto, so I wont have to mess with the trans, also when I put it together I used one of those Felpro one piece rubber pan gaskets, I tried one out on my pick up a few years ago and had good luck with it so I put one on this engine also.
I thought the steering linkage looked low enough, but knowing it needs moved ahead of time will save some greif.
Thanks again
Mike
__________________
Put your checkbook on the dash, and hammer down
the only time running high oil pressure is a problem is if you use a stock pan and pump all the oil to the top end of the motor at higher rpm's. if your pan holds 7-8 qts of oil you will be fine with that pressure. ive run that psi on the street several times and never had a problem.
No offense Big Dog, but every time I have been around an engine that runs more than about 60 psi of oil pressure it seems to eat the distributor gear off, thats why the high oil pressure makes me nervous, I even thought a couple times of trying a bronze gear even though it is not a roller cam to see if it would help, but didnt know if it was a good idea or not. So to make my self feel better I am going to lower the pressure.
A lot of the circle track guys I know only run 45 to 50 psi and they run at high rpm longer than I ever will.
I do have a 7 quart pan on it but only plan on running 6 quarts in it to help fight windage.
Thanks
Mike
__________________
Put your checkbook on the dash, and hammer down
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