Huge progress with some pics
Guys,
Couldn't do the intercooler mock up today, hasn't arrived yet. Couldn't do the fan conversion, still waiting on fan, fan clutch, and pulley.
But....I did put in an oil drain today. This is by no means the prettiest drain setup around. I do however feel it will function quite well.
Basic order of things.
1. I removed the steel oil pan.
2. Drilled a hole in the upper pan.
3. Threaded for a 1/4 NPT nipple.
4. Installed 1/4 nipple with sealer.
5. Used a 3/8 NPT to 1/4 NPT reducing coupler as a jam nut of sorts on the back side of the nipple.
6. Installed a 1/4 to 1/4 elbow.
7. Put in a plug for now.
First thing, I know some of you are already thinking a 1/4 inch isn't enough for a drain. Well, the inside diameter of the 1/4 nipple is the same size (very very slightly smaller) as a standard Vortech drain hose barb.
Vortech hose barb inside diatmeter.
1/4 NPT nipple inside diameter.
If 3/8 i.d. hose is good enough for Vortech, it's good enough for me.
This is the 1/4 nipple used. Threaded into the upper pan from the outside.
This is the 3/8 to 1/4 reducer used as a jam nut, threaded onto the nipple from the inside.
In this picture, the steel pan is removed along with the oil baffle. The hole is drilled into the driver's side, rearish of the upper pan. After drilling, I threaded using a 1/4 NPT tap.
I installed the nipple from the outside of the pan with sealer. I've never been very good at making FIPG look good BTW.
Installed the coupler on the inside of the pan, onto the nipple with more sealer. Again, never been good at making sealer look good.
Installed a 1/4 NPT elbow and plug. For reference, this is the driver side of the engine. To the left of the elbow is the oil level sensor. The wire to the right is for the driver side O2 sensor (front sensor). It's a little hard to tell from the pic but the elbow is tilted slightly up. Also, the O2 sensor plug was put back into place and shouldn't interfere with the drain hose.
This took me about 3 hours to do and I spent about an hour and a half deciding where to drill. I was a bit nervous.
Again, I know it's a bit ugly, but I don't expect any problems from it. In fact, I think it will function quite well. I will run the drain hose in between the engine and the motor mount, straight to the supercharger.
One note on removing the steel pan. It's easy to remove but the motor needs to be jacked up a bit so that the pan can be tilted enough to clear the suspension crossmember.
This, to me, is a huge step in completing this project. With the drain out of the way, I may be boosted by Thanksgiving!
KC