Shortened oil pan for Subaru conversions basic how-to

[61Scout]

A while back I shortened an oil pan for my Subaru 2.2 using the plate provided by Outfront Motorsports, see here: http://www.outfrontmotorsports.com/oil_pan.htm The pan I received as a gift from Tom Lengyel, thanks Tom!

Thankfully the mounting on the 2.2 is all on the same plane, so I simply found a nice flat piece of plywood and made a jig to help with the process. You have to drill a couple of holes, one for the pickup tube so it can be screwed down and sit flat and another hole for the oil return from the pan. I also cut a large center hole to later check the clearance once the pan was tack welded.

The basics are very straightforward. Cut the pan down, cut the tube down, check clearances and when you're happy weld it all up. Mostly I wanted to add some photos for TS so there was a reference for anyone thinking of doing this job. I'm going to skip over a step by step and throw up some pictures. I think it's self explanatory for the most part. Just go slow, be patient and make sure things stay straight.

Here's a shot of the pickup tube I shortened. Yes, that's some silicone I pasted over the tack welds. I'm confident it sealed okay, but added some of the right stuff on top just in case I missed a pinhole. I also used some of the right stuff on the inside of the pan once the welding was complete for the same reason. I could have brazed over the weld, but meh, silicone is easier and it was more of a belt and suspenders kinda insurance anyway. On the pickup tube be sure to keep the cut nice and straight. Fortunately the tube itself has a seam, which helps with alignment. Be precise here, off just a little bit and the pickup won't be parallel with the bottom of the pan.

Once the pan is cut down, I simply placed it on the jig along with the shortened pickup tube and checked the clearance. According to the guys at Outfront, they suggest the clearance to be 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch from the bottom. They also suggested welding a rod across the bottom, but I didn't feel that was necessary, so I didn't do that.

Once I was happy with the clearance I figured out the drain plug, welded it in place, and then welded up the pan. The welding portion of this project is the tricky part. The pickup tube has to be perfectly aligned to remain flat/parallel to the bottom of the pan. The metal of the tube is thin, so I turned down the welder and just used tacks all the way around, being very careful to clamp it straight and allow it to cool between tacks to avoid warping. Welding the pan is also tricky because you're welding thick steel onto thin steel. I like to start on the thick plate and gently whip into the thin metal. Here again, moving around, taking my time, grinding, tacking any questionable possible pinholes, and so on.

Here it is, ugly as can be, but perfectly functional. I had about a 1/4 of a small tube of jbweld left over too, so I mixed some up and slathered it on the outside of the weld before paint. I thought it would look better, but in retrospect I wouldn't have done that again. Not wanting to take the time to sand it all away I say screw it and painted over it. Not my best work, but it's on my bro's van and he's not paying me so that's what he gets, lol.

That's about it. Hope this helps give a visual reference for anyone thinking about doing this project.

-Kevin
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1986 Westfalia Weekender Wolfsburg, RJE 2.3
1985 Tin Top, Subie 2.2 + 5MT
Floppy Mirrors no more: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=653018&highlight=
Remove the front spindle nut with ease: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679567&highlight=
Remove the rear wheel bearing housing without messing with the big 46mm nut: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=679507&highlight=

-Nec Spe, Nec Metu

[Sodo]

Right on Kevin.
Good to have this info searchable on TheSamba!
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'90 Westy EJ25, NEW oil rings (!) 2Peloquins, 3knobs, SyncroShop pressure-oiled pinion-bearing & GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox.
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered original gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb

[bobbyblack]

That is one super write-up, thanks so much!

I am looking around for info regarding this mod, and your article is top notch. Might I ask about the dip stick? I am having a hard time visualizing how to put things together in order to access the dip stick from the license door. Any suggestions on where to look for that portion?

And, just for clarification, is "cutting down to 4 9/16" about the same as "cut off 1 1/2" from bottom" ??

Thanks!
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'87 Westy 'Flossie','86 Westy 'R1','86 tintop GL - Subi2.2 'J2','83.5 stock tintop L 'ZoomBus','74 Karmann Ghia, '63 Notch

[ALIKA T3]

Great job, thank you for the info!

And at least you get to choose to work on a straight oil pan.

Outfront sent me 2 used pans modified, that were all removed initially with a screwdriver or similar prying. Bent back in shape with pliers. Bodge work.

I finally got tired of their poor judgment and asked them to make me one off a new pan, barely more expensive.
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[Kombi///M3]

Looks great! I'm thinking of maybe I'll just do my own short pan..
How much oil capacity? I see the burley ones have the rear extended a tad.
Cheers..

[bobbyblack]

[61Scout]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Mostly just wanted to post up some pictures and show the process as I couldn't find any reference for the plate sold by Outfront here on TS. Glad someone is finding the thread helpful. If anyone else has pictures of theirs it would be cool to add some more photos. As always during a work process remembering to stop and take a photo is often not on the mind, so the photos I have are a bit limited. Moving on...

[ALIKA T3]

[o-town]

I followed the same general path but wanted to reinforce my oil pump pick up tube as I was mig welding the connection.

I used a metric nut welded to the bottom and a plug from Napa sold as an 02 plug. Not thrilled with how it sits down a bit exposed on the bottom

[o-town]

A few messy photos of making a simple template to make the bottom plate for shortening the oil pan. Used my sawzall as a high speed hacksaw to cut it out

[tjet]

I want to do this on the pan on my ER27. I'm wondering if I need to widen the sides to retain the original oil quantity?

It would probably need to be a 2-piece mod like below. The original pan bolts would be on the inside. You would access them through a "boiler plate" on the new bottom

[syncrodoka]

How would you keep the oil from sloshing away from the pickup tube and into these cavities instead?

[Sherrinonie]

What size crush washer is needed? 2.2 subaru conversion short block