Oil drain on a soon to be turbo focus

Hey all, So after discovering the prices on a new oil pan I'm considering drilling into the own with it on the car. I know it's best to do off the car but I'm not doing that.

My question is to know where to put it to avoid the oil pick up or other necessary parts. An idea I've had is to use a hose and put it on the drill to avoid over drilling using it like a bump stop or something.

As far as metal shavings go I think the best idea is to do it with oil in the car and maybe put some dielectric Grease on the drill bit and tap and die to help catch some of the shavings.

To seal the plug should I use a gasket or thread locker?

Thanks in advance

-TurboFocus

Let me start off with an opinion that it would be a much better idea to drop the pan and do the work off the car. For dealing with metal shavings, the best idea would actually be to remove the pan, drill it, and then put it through the parts washer (or at least hose it out).

You'll want the drain up as high as you can practically get it. I'd use a step bit to get you close and then finish it out with whatever size your drain hose adapter is. You probably would be best served with something like a -10 or -12 AN 45 degree bulkhead fitting:

To seal the adapter, I've had good luck with stat-o-seals:

But then, I've put one on each side of the oil pan, no idea if one will get the job done.

You're going to all the work of turboing a non turbo car. Take the extra 2hrs and drop the oil pan.

Look up one of the install guides from Flyin Miata they do a good job detailing how to drill a pan without harming anything. The miata guys have been doing it this way since the inception of turbo miatas without harm.

I wouldnt worry about the oil feed too much, usually they go to the middle of the lowest point of the pan. You will want your drain higher than that to be above the oil line.

NordicSaab wrote: Look up one of the install guides from Flyin Miata they do a good job detailing how to drill a pan without harming anything. The miata guys have been doing it this way since the inception of turbo miatas without harm.

The actual drilling is easy. The hard part is knowing where to drill that won't hit anything important on the inside, is accessible with a drill from the outside, and is actually usefully located as far as the oil drain is concerned. To determine the first you really need to spend a bunch of time looking at a motor that's already been taken apart.

On a Miata people do it with the pan on the car because taking the pan off is a major PITA (I've done it, probably spent 10+ hours on just that part). Taking the pan off gets rid of the first two constraints, plus you can weld a bung into it instead of tapping the relatively thin casting. If you've got it off, then while you're at it go ahead and put in a bung for an oil temp sensor as well.

"I've read on teh Intr4w3bz, y0" of people punching a hole in the pan with a punch and then tapping the now pushed in hole in the sheet metal and screwing a fitting in.

i agree, id love to remove the pan and do it easy and the right way but ive got a couple of logistical issues on sourcing a sourcing a pan. rock auto will price me at roughly 80 by the time it gets to me. locally part names are often difficult to decipher, none of the brands are the same, not all parts are available because of the ridiculous tree hugger laws.

at yards they remove all the engines before they get to the yard around here and the ones that leave the motors in put the cars directly on the ground. Modified cars almost don't exist here, the most you see are stickers and funny paint jobs.

Unless someone has a pan, gasket and the little screws ready to go I'm in a tough spot. Trust me, if I was in a place where junk yards made sense I'd have this done and ready to install.

Is this your daily driver? Why do you have to source another pan to do it "off the car"? I think what most people are suggesting is to drop the pan currently on the engine, clean it, drill it and weld in a bung where you need it to be, clean it very thoroughly again to avoid any metal shavings and reinstall the pan.

I don't know how difficult dropping the oil pan is on a Focus, but if you go into it with a plan, drilling the pan, welding a bung in, and cleaning it shouldn't take more than an hour.

my only worry is that the bolts are known to break in the old age... dont want to round one or break one and be in a hell of a spot to put it back on.

stubborn defiance should help if that happens when i take them off and ruin a few.

probably would've helped if i provided some background on why i want to do it the hard way vs the easy way.

Dr. Hess wrote: "I've read on teh Intr4w3bz, y0" of people punching a hole in the pan with a punch and then tapping the now pushed in hole in the sheet metal and screwing a fitting in.

my buddy did this when doing a NA-to-turbo conversion on a 240 volvo. It worked better then i though it would have, that was ~6 years ago and he has been DD'ing it without an issue

Is it a cast aluminum pan, or a sheet metal steel one?

Assuming it's stamped steel, I'd go with punching a hole, taking that risk as opposed to the near certainty that you'll get metal shavings into your engine (yeah I know the filter should get it, but most people don't know that filters have built in bypasses, that after just a short time, they're only filtering a portion of the engine's oil).

Good question, what's the best way to find out?

Now that I've re read the punch idea and get what you're saying that actually seems like a viable idea.

Seems like pulling the pan is the best idea. You'll know where to drill and won't have the metal shavings issue.

I took quite a bit of time trying to figure the optimum spot to put mine when I went turbo on my 240sx. That was with the pan off. I even had to grind down a tab on my oil pick up tube to make it work.

Otherwise I would think a Focus specific forum might give you some answers or pictures of the pan for reference.

TurboFocus wrote: Good question, what's the best way to find out?

Crawl under the car and look? Steel pans are usually painted black, cast aluminum ones are usually bare. Stick a magnet to it if it's not obvious?

TurboFocus wrote: Good question, what's the best way to find out?

Hit a speed bump. Cast aluminum will break and steel will dent.

Be gentle with the bolts and pull the pan, if they don't break free easily rock them back and forth with a small breaker bar while gradually increasing the force. If they're in through holes (you can see both ends of the bolt) or nuts on studs soak them in penetrating oil for a few days beforehand. If you have a cast aluminum pan you can probably get away with a couple missing/broken bolts and not have leaks so long as they aren't right next to each other.

In reply to thatsnowinnebago:

Lol thanks, appreciate it.

Codrus: Going by that standard, the oil pan is painted black so I'm assuming it is steel then.

Broken yugo: when you say rock them back and forth is that a good idea with little bolts? Like 6 or 7mm size?

Yes, you just need to be gentle (use 1/4 inch drive tools) to account for the smaller thread, to clarify I mean try turning them both ways, tighten a little, loosen a little, tighten a little more, loosen a little more, repeat until free. It's one of those things you'll develop a feel for after working on old rusty stuff for a while.

Another trick you could try is to get a big long drift punch (longer than the depth of the oil pan), or a socket extension you don't mind hammering on, and use that and a small hammer to give each bolt a few good hits in line with the bolt, not hard enough to deform the bolt head or anything, just a good sharp rap, this helps break any corrosion free.

youre a genius mate. im still trying to find a spare pan, but if worse comes to worse... youve been a great help

Is it possible that locating the drain in the skirt of the block would give a much sturdier place to mount.

I would look in to a Weldon pump with a small sump for it and put the oil back in to the valve cover. No it is not the cheap answer but it then lets you mount the turbo much lower and makes the oil plumbing much easier.

I found this on Amazon. Almost to cheap for me to want to mess with it. There were a bunch of other ones there as well.

Pump

It's been established that this isn't the best method AND you're going to do it anyway. I've seen worse ideas.

Steel pan? Put a couple rare earth magnets under the hole and leave them there...you know, just in case. Use a step bit, go slow. Shouldn't be too many chips, and they should exit out. Change your oil when you're done.

Edit: if you have an oil pressure sender low on the block, you may be able to tee into that for your turbo return.

The more I think about it, the punch + tap method starts to make more sense. I'd still put some heavy magnets on a pan that I 'salted' for good measure.