N52 oil pan design for Z4 engine arm based swap

[Striker01]

Hey guys. I'm going to document my assembly of hoveringuy's oil pan design. Big thanks to him for sending me the files and a whole bunch of assembly tips. If I document something wrong or there is a better way to do it hopefully he can chime in and correct me.

I am by no means a good welder or fabricator, just find it rewarding to work on my own projects and learn new skills as I go.

I ordered a pack of 100 4 or 6mm magnets from amazon for $9 to help with the mock up.

Here is my pan order from SendCutSend, I did order one piece in the wrong gauge steel but it shouldn't make a difference except for a few bucks more expensive. If a couple of you order this at a time it will be significantly cheaper, about half if 10 of you could get together and order at once.



This is the order as it arrived from SCS.


Here is the mockup using a bunch of those little magnets, they are strong and very handy to have. (another idea stolen from hoveringuy but why re-invent the wheel). Amazing how well this thing fits together right out of the package!

I didn't get a picture of the rear-section before cutting it but you just cut along the perforations laser cut into it. The pieces cut off will be used for the two corners that will have to be fabricated.

Notice the large gap between the two left holes on the back of the flange(bottom of first pic), That gap should be on the passenger side of the pan, make sure the flange is oriented correctly before tacking it together.





Please bear with me for all the reserved replies. I want to keep the entire assembly together.

[wazzu70]

Thanks for making this! Really opens up the options for E30 motor swaps.

[hoveringuy]

Group Buy?

I mean, the pan is about $220 from SendCutSend. Anyone thats a decent fabricator could do a run and make a few bucks. Would be way more efficient to do more than 1 at a time!

The baffle just snaps together.

[darvo]

Group Buy?

[hoveringuy]

Pan, version 2.0, complete! I ran it last night and warmed up the motor, let it sit overnight and no leaks anywhere. I'm happy with the fit, it has slightly more clearance to the rack, has more capacity at 5 3/4 Qts and has a perfect dip stick. Still-awesome ground clearance.

[hoveringuy]

As a sanity check, I submitted an oil sample to Blackstone last month and also pulled my big end bearings while I'm swapping the pan to the new design. Mind you, the old pan wasn't optimized for track use but it has done its job well! -Zero- corrosion in the pan itself and the Cosworth oil flaps are still perfect.

The motor has probably 2000 track miles now and 90,000 overall. The bearings were beginning to show some wear but probably typical for a motor with 90,000 miles. The oil report was clean.

Carry on!

[hoveringuy]

Complete. Final capacity is 5 3/4 Qts.
E36 dipstick.

[hoveringuy]

when will these be available?

The main pan is done. I can send you the .DXF whenever, or I don't know if I can share my SendCutSend project which already has the thickness and bends specified. I've made two small changes to the pan for extra bolt clearance at the corners but those are basic metalworking that don't require CAD changes. I made one adjustment to the flange by adding support braces across the middle; welding shrinkage likes to pull the flanges together and hopefully these cutaways will help it hold position during fabrication. I had to ream-out the holes on mine a few mm.

The baffle is also done, just need to validate the few changes I made when the stainless version arrives in two days. Those .DXF files are also available if you want to see them.

[darvo]

when will these be available?

The "SendCutSend" pan is coming along nicely... Initial baffle design fits great, I've made some small adjustments to it and re-ordered in 0.030 stainless. My analysis shows that the pickup position will be submerged indefinitely at 1G of left or right turns and can sustain 1.5Gs of braking. The baffles increase those margins for maybe 8 seconds before the oil goes where gravity says it will...

[hoveringuy]

The "SendCutSend" pan is coming along nicely... Initial baffle design fits great, I've made some small adjustments to it and re-ordered in 0.030 stainless. My analysis shows that the pickup position will be submerged indefinitely at 1G of left or right turns and can sustain 1.5Gs of braking. The baffles increase those margins for maybe 8 seconds before the oil goes where gravity says it will...

[projectJTv4]

Awesome update! I'll be needing one of these soon...

[hoveringuy]

My SendCutSend "kit" arrived. I am mostly very pleased, it fits together like it was designed in CAD or something (where CAD doesn't stand for Cardboard Assisted Design....)

It looks kinda like the rendering.

Except for the fact that some idiot specified the wrong bend angle on one piece it's ready to weld together. All of this was $240

[LukeJ]

Nice work Steve. Looking forward to seeing the final result.

[hoveringuy]

I've pulled the trigger on ordering bent metal for another pan. If it snaps together into a pan I'll be a little surprised, but CAD doesn't lie, right?

[hoveringuy]

I started work on the SendCutSend version of this pan. Ideally, you can have the pre-bent pieces delivered and just weld along the seams. Plus, it will have some improvements over the successful version 1 pan. Slightly more capacity and even better oil control.