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pressing oil pickup tube

5K views 32 replies 8 participants last post by  cobalt327 
#1 ·
Ive got the 5/8 wrench and im whaling on this sucker. Simply will not even begin to insert. Im pretty sure if i continue this pickup is history. Anything i should try? Give up and have a dude with the fancy tool do it?


-Kenny
 
#2 · (Edited)
Ive got the 5/8 wrench and im whaling on this sucker. Simply will not even begin to insert. Im pretty sure if i continue this pickup is history. Anything i should try? Give up and have a dude with the fancy tool do it? -Kenny
Begin with OEM parts, not cheezy offshore crap. Make sure there is not a piece of the original tube broken off in the hole and rusted in place. Run a bronze rifle cleaning brush through the hole a few times to remove paint overspray, rust and scale. Remove any paint from the tube, bevel the edge of the tube with a fine-tooth file and store it in the freezer overnight. Next day, apply a very light coating of Vaseline to the tube and tap it in with the proper size box-end wrench and a small hammer. Sit down, open a cool one and admire your work.

And not to be a snot, but whaling is something Captain Ahab did when he was looking for Moby Dick. Beating on a part is called beating on a part, not to be confused with wailing, which is a high-pitched scream.:thumbup:
 
#3 ·
Begin with OEM parts, not cheezy offshore crap. Make sure there is not a piece of the original tube broken off in the hole and rusted in place. Run a bronze rifle cleaning brush through the hole a few times to remove paint overspray, rust and scale. Remove any paint from the tube, bevel the edge of the tube with a fine-tooth file and store it in the freezer overnight. Next day, apply a very light coating of Vaseline to the tube and tap it in with the proper size box-end wrench and a small hammer. Sit down, open a cool one and admire your work.

And not to be a snot, but whaling is something Captain Ahab did when he was looking for Moby Dick. Beating on a part is called beating on a part, not to be confused with wailing, which is a high-pitched scream.:thumbup:
Ah yes sweet delicious common sense. I shall do this, thank you. Im not sure if my pickup tube speaks chinese or not but im pretty sure its not OEM being it is for a 7qt. oil pan. Maybe ill go compare it to an OEM one. if its the same depth i should be fine using OEM right?
 
#4 ·
Without buying the correct tool, this is a very graceful and ******* way, in fact its better that the correct tool because you don't hammer it in. Worked great on my SBC350 build. The article calls for some iron plumbing pipe, which I didn't have, so I cut open and splayed a piece of regular 1/2" conduit. And assuming this is an internal/submerged pump, you do not need to pack the gears full of grease, so ignore that part (it is a common misconception).

(ran spell check to pass tech inspection LOL)

Install A New Oil Pump - Part 11: Rebuilding An Engine To Fix A Rod Knock - GMC or Chevy 4.3 V6
 
#10 ·
i will say one thing this pickup is junk. Its rusted on the inside. Id really rather find another one that dosent have rust waiting to fall off and destroy my motor.

Whats the target gap from oil pan measurement im looking for? I think im going to make a parts run to see if OEM will work.
 
#12 ·
Bad juju Bwana. Rust not allowed. Use modeling clay and mock up the pickup clearance from the bottom of the pan. Shoot for 3/8". Any closer than that could allow the pump to pull the bottom of the pan sheetmetal up against the pickup and shut off the supply to the pump. Don't trust the pickup to just be a tight fit into the pump. Weld it. Once you have the pickup oriented in the proper position, take the pickup and pump to a certified welder and have him weld it for you. Wrap the pump and pickup in wet rags and make sure no welding slag gets into the assembly.
 
#15 · (Edited)
What's the block out of? Give us the alpha-numeric code off the passenger side block deck at the very front of the block. Whose pan are you using? What part number? We don't know at this point if the pan is wider with the same depth or deeper with the same width or what. If it's just wider with the same depth, you can use the OEM pieces. If it's deeper, then you'll have to use an extended pickup.
 
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#17 · (Edited)
Are you using the new pickup from a new pump or the old one. The old one that came out of the engine is correct for your oil pan. Use that one in thenew pump or its stock replacement. They are dirt cheap. Did you get a mellon pump. (extra L for tech to correct and crack a beer and admire his work) sorry tech couldnt help it. LOL

Fyi its got to be welded anyway if you dont have welder you can let someone else fight it into the hole. But freezer should work if its not junk.
Its a brand new aftermarket pickup sent with the aftermarket oil pan. Im using a high volume melling pump. As far as welding i have a Mig welder if needed. It apears as though the pickup provided wouldnt NEED to be welded since its got that bracket to hold it from moving. But im sure it wouldnt hurt to have welded it. But im ditching that pickup anyways.
 
#19 ·
Just like the pan is sitting in the picture, measure from the corner of the pan where it meets the block down to the bottom of the sump. Write it down, you'll use this figure for all future reference measurements. Let's say it's 8 1/4". Mock up the pump and pump pickup on the bearing cap and measure from the block where the pan sits to the bottom of the pickup screen. You may have to get a buddy to hold a yardstick on the screen, making sure the yardstick is parallel with the block surface where the pan bolts on and extend the yardstick out past the pan rail of the block in order for you to get a place to measure to. In this for-instance, you'd want the pickup screen at about 8" from the block surface. Figuring a 1/8" thick pan gasket, this would give you the 3/8" screen to pan clearance that you want. Don't rely on this as the end-all though. You should still go ahead and check the clearance with clay. "Measure twice, cut once".
 
#22 · (Edited)
Heres the exact kit i ordered. You can see the M-55HV on the box for the pump in the picture. I dont think the pickup is melling. Im sure this pickup is as good as any for a starting point unfourtunatly its rusted out. Could i just clean the pickup out with my rifle bore brushes or something and give it a whirl or am i better off trying again?

Its interesting it says 8.25" pan when i just measured it at 8.437". Am i understanding this correctly that once i added a gasket then the ideal pickup depth would be about 8.25'' ? so perhaps the 8.25 is pickup depth not total pan depth?

SBC Drag Race Oil Pan, Pickup, Pump, Shaft, Stud Kit - KMJ Performance
 
#27 ·
Kenny, don't worry about trying to bolt the pickup to the pump. Put the pickup in the freezer overnite. Have everything ready to press the pickup in. Press it in as far as you can if the bolts line up fine if they don't forget it. Bolt the pump to the bearing cap and use a straight edge as wide as the oil pan rails. You will want 8 1/8" measurement from the straight edge to each side of the the oil pan rails. This means it level and you will have a 3/8" gap. 8 7/16 oilpan depth + 1/16 thickness of gasket = 8 1/2 - 3/8 = 8 1/8. Then remove the pump wrap it in a wet rag and tack weld the pickup to the pump reinstall the pump. If you want you can submerge the screen in oil and spin the pump shaft until oil comes out.
 
#28 ·
Ok i got the pickup on. I didnt get it pressed all the way in, but id say its over halfway. I didnt want to continue hitting it as im pretty sure i would bust through the tube shortly. Is this thing in enough as it is in the picture (hard to really tell i know) that if ithe pan depth checks out i can tack weld it in place and call it good? Or if it checks out good should i just bang it all the way in and hope it dosent bust?
 
#29 · (Edited)
What is the part number on that pick up tube? And whats your pan depth?? I have a 8 and 1/4 deep pan with the same pump. I got a simillar looking pick up and it would not fit. The pick up tube went too deep and was tuching my pan. When I called the store back, they said "that's the one the computer said was for it;" so they did a mock up on a block and HV pump they had there and it wouldn't fit there either. They ended up giving me a moroso pick up for cost. It was only 10 bucks more then. SO CHECK YOUR DEPTH BEFORE YOU GO WELDING ANYTHING. Other than that have fun!!:)
 
#31 ·
They rarely seat all the way in, so if the mounting tab lines up with the bolt it's good. Since the pickup is on the suction side, not pressure side, it doesn't have leak issues unless it's loose in the pump.
It's in now, but in the future if you have issues pressing a pickup tube into a pump try lightly sanding the end of the tube on a sander. I bevel the end on my belt sander before trying to press them in, and it really does well in making them go in easier.
 
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