The stock oil pan on the 2rz hung down a little too low- about 2.5″ below the frame rails. I had to raise the front suspension ride height to keep it from scraping during normal driving. This raised my roll centers and decreased my droop travel so something had to be done.

Now, my pan only hangs down 1/2″ below the rails. I chopped off the offending section and expanded the pan sideways to make up the lost oil capacity (much like an upside down mushroom). I was worried about sloshing and the oil pump pickup sucking air, so I designed a trap door system in solidworks. Using 3D cad allowed me to check clearances and design parts that could be made from sheet metal (that could be precision cut with Gatech’s waterjet cutter). The hinges on the trap doors are 1/8″ stainless steel welding rod.

I am really happy with how the pan turned out…a lot of precision fabrication was done to ensure no issues with assembly. All-in-all, the pan modification took about 25 hours of labor.

Steps to modify the pan:
-The oil pan’s dimensions were measured
-Playdoh was used to measure the stock clearance of the oil pump pickup
-The capacity was measured and marked with a kitchen measuring cup and water and a spring loaded center punch
-The windage plate was removed and the pan was cut and sanded straight
-Cardboard mockups of the new pan section were made to determine clearances, install-ability, and looks
-The pan was screwed to a piece of wood to keep it straight and minimize warpage
-The new pan section pieces were waterjet cut out of 1/16″ mild steel plate, and tack welded on (except for the bottom piece)
-The pan and oil pump pickup were installed and the pickup was measured, cut, and tack welded to work with the new pan
-The drain bung was cut from the original pan and added to the new pan section
-The trap doors were designed in Solidworks, cut on the waterjet, and prepped
-Test fit, test fit, test fit. The modified oil pan pickup clearance was once again checked with Playdoh. It was too much, so a 1/8″ spacer plate was cut and welded to the engine side of the pickup.
-A new windage plate was mocked up in cardboard and cut from 1/16″ plate, and welded in
-The bottom plate got the trap door system added, and the seams of the pan were welded up
-The bottom plate was welded on, everything was test fit, and the seams were welded up
-Old form-in-place-gasket (FIPG) material removed and pan prepped for painting
-Gloss black paint on the outside (5 coats?) and some paint on the inside. The inside will be covered in oil so rust is not a huge concern.

The pan still needs to be installed…

I recently went to Phoenix, AZ for an interview. I stopped at the Penske Racing museum and took some neat pictures of their old turbo Indy 500 cars.

I bought a new toy- a Lincoln squarewave 175 tig welder, and love it. It is a very nice welder.

With it, I’ve begun fabrication work on the car again. I completed the headers that I earlier designed in 3D CAD. Recreating the work I did in CAD was a little tricky, but I think I got reasonably close. The pipes were made out of new 16ga J-bends from summit and pieces of the header I fabricated for the 22RE engine. These tubes come with a coating that must be removed prior to welding…I dont think Ill use them again. Next time will be stainless.

I had a learning experience with the welder. I suspected contaminated gas, as I was getting a lot of sparking while welding, and chewing up tungsten. Upon returning the tank to the local welding supplier, my suspicions were confirmed- the tank was a 75% argon, 25% CO2 mix (I didnt think to check). Oh well. New gas, finished the headers.

The collector is a stamped piece from summit racing, with some triangles inside to help merge the flows and extend the negative pressure wave that is reflected back to the cylinders (scavenging effects).