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I’ll be having a gasket (probably two) made for a 1910 36UU base pan, the old gasket is very complete so the pattern should be correct. Anyone else need one or more?
If you are talking about a gasket between the crankcase and the oil pan it shouldn’t have one. The problem with putting one on is that now you have made the bronze insert on the back of the pan that acts like the rear main seal that much farther away from the crank. Basically there is no rear main seal, that bronze insert serves as a deterrent for the oil to escape. It is supposed to be at near zero tolerance around the crankshaft, when you put in a gasket you move it away from the crankshaft by however thick you make the gasket, making it prone to leak. Pierce relied on the machine finish of the halves to be used as the seal. They didn’t use gaskets on the front cover or between the transmission halves. This was the way Pierce did it all the way through the series 33-36 cars. Just use a good gasket sealer, sparingly, and one that doesn’t act like a glue, or it will be very difficult to remove the pan the next time.
Billy,
Interesting, we just dropped the pan yesterday and it did have a very thin paper gasket that we were going to use as a pattern for new one; I just took another look at the pan and the bronze insert is very slightly proud of the pan surface. The gasket that was there did not appear to be improvised but looked professionally produced. We have no way of ascertaining the last time the pan was off, but it could go back to the 1960’s. We are taking a very conservative approach on attempting to start the car after 6+ years of sitting so wanted to see what the base looked like, check for debris, plasti-gauge the rod bearings, etc.
Well it’s possible that sometime in its life someone wanted to try and improve on the design. If the bronze is sticking up maybe measure by how much and fit a slightly thinner gasket or remove the bronze and see if something was added underneath to make it stick up. I would hate to tell you to discard the gasket and damage the pan by tightening it up and putting to much pressure on the pan because the bronze is sticking up. If you are checking main bearings, the center main on those engines is the one that takes the most abuse. Good luck, hope you get it running soon.
I will suggest that you not only check the center main bearing for scoring and clearance, but to clean out the connecting rod bearing oil galleries. The galleries are a ~3/4″ diameter bore through the center of the rod journal. There is a threaded plug on each end. For that engine, the plug should have a 5/16″ or 3/8″ hex hole. Each plug has at least one, usually two ‘peen’ marks, done with a pointed punch at the edge of the plug, This was done to lock the threads, keeping the plug from backing out..
Take a .100″ drill and drill into the peen, removing the upset/bent threads. Then see if a regular allen wrench will unscrew the plug.. If not, SO NOT strip out the hex hole!! Use an Oxy-Acetylene torch to quickly heat the plug to a dull red.. It is only about 5/16″ thick so it heats quickly, the crankshaft will hardly get warm. When the plug is heated it expands, then shrinks again, leaving the threads loose or free. The plug will then be able to be removed.
The oil gallery will most likely be at least 1/2 full of oily, gritty ‘mud’. The high speed spinning of the crankshaft makes the oil galleries like a centrifuge, the dirt and grit in the oil being deposited on the outside of the gallery. I use a very thick feeler guage as a stiff scraper to scoop the muck out of the gallery. If you take the plug out of both ends, you can use a wood dowel to push the muck out.
Don’t negect to clean out the small 1/8″ oil hole that goes from the gallery to the rod bearing itself..
By the way, my 1919 series 31, did not have any pan gasket. Just some form of thin sealant.
Greg Long
Hi Greg, unfortunately the early engines don’t have screw in plugs, they are more like a freeze plug that is staked around the opening. While this does make it easier to take them out and I agree it should be done, it makes it a little more worrisome that they could come loose. You just have to make sure they are staked well. Not being a pressurized system also helps. They should also check the copper lines going up to the wrist pins on the rods, they are just soldered in and over time many are broken or the joint is loose. Glad to see you back on the page, Hope you’re doing well.