New here w/ Ford 861

[Soundguy]

everybody has a first time at something.

 

[jeff pk]

Here's a new issue: I was waiting for a used pan plug because the old one had no screen and the threads were half stripped and it was very hard to remove. The pan threads looked like they might be okay. So the plug came today and when I tried to screw it in, it started stripping the plug threads---just like the old ones. I can maybe get the old setup to work, but don't like it when these things don't work as they should. I'm thinking of replacing the pan with a used one if I can find a deal somewhere. I can't see any way to repair those pan threads---too big to tap...

 

[Soundguy]

triangle file on the plug threads... should be a cast material.. the pan will be a steel stamping, and you can use a thread file on the pan threads

you could also swap the wire bail from the new to the old plug.. but I'd check the threads first... see what you can get going..

i'll send you a pm where you can get a good used pan, if you go that route..

 

[jeff pk]

Thanks for the lowdown on the used pan---I saw one on ebay too---your source is likely more reliable though. Tell me about the thread file. Is it a saw toothed shaped thing that needs to fit that particular thread? The old plug goes on---gets very tight near the end, but if I can clean up the pan threads it might work normally...

 

[Soundguy]

napa and many other carry a thread file.. it is about 10" long usually.. square profile. each 'end' has a different thread pitch on a side.. thus the file is for 8 different thread pitches. fnid one close and run it around the id..

 

[jeff pk]

Cool---I'm going to try that first. Thanks...

 

[jeff pk]

Couldn't find an "internal" thread file---only external which would work on the plug threads but not the pan. So I found a used pan on ebay, and I'll try with that. One of these weeks I'll get it all back together. Are you familiar with "engine assembly lube"---comes in black tubes and has moly-graphite in it? Would this be good to prime the oil pump? Label says it desolves in the oil, but you're only supposed to put a light coat on bearings and such---not pack the pump full, which is what I suppose one does to prime the thing...

 

[Soundguy]

that same thread file that is squar ein profile and 8" long works FINE on the threads inside the oil pan. just set it in and run around the bore???


no, i would NOT use assembly lube in the oil pump. it's for putting onthe crank journals, and rods and mains and stuff.

i'd pack the oil pump with vasolene or a similar light grease.. like a #1 or 1.5 but preferably not a nlgi 2, etc, as that is getting stiff.

depending on t he design, some people fill with something like stp, then pack the end with a grease 'plug'.. onc ethe gears turn the stp flows out making good vacume, and the grease plug sucks in piston like and oil shoots up the pickup tube like a freight train..

seriously though.. I done plenty with vasolene....

 

[jeff pk]

Vasoline it is. The only part of that file that hits the threads is the very end. It's at an angle due to its length. Unless your file is different and can also cut perpendicular. Mine only cuts parallel, and I can't get it parallel.

 

[Soundguy]

yeah.. parallel. not sure why you can't stick the file into the hole in the pan, then move it to the side so the teeth engage the threads, then run it around in a circle.