I'd still use some silicone sealant with the o-ring gasket to be sure the oil doesn't leak out of the flange.

That's a very thick oil pan. How much does it weigh? Probably much heavier than the stamped steel stocker?

I use a Staff's Auto oil pan brace. It has the same effect as your stout oil pan. No more leaks.

Because the Staff's Auto oil pan brace is over 1/4-inch thick, the brace stiffens the motor slightly compared with no oil pan brace.

Good luck with the project!

 

could there be a silicone o-ring used on this? Along with a silicone gasket backup, that would just be fail safes hiding behind the o-ring.

 

a-spec sell those for $375. looks very nice. thinking about getting one soon.

 

I am not saying that this is a bad idea, but you have still NOT explained why you think the o-ring will seal better than some of the high tech sealants that are available.

 

OK I'll try to answer everyone’s question.

First: this pan is still in the development stages and can and will be modified to be the best suited for all needs.

Second this pan was designed to help cars that are High Hp cars and that the purpose of the pan is to help keep rotor housings from torquing and twisting under high boost levels (We are going to be running 35+ lbs in a couple of cars we are using it on.) So that is the design parameters behind the pan

Now the O-ring issue.....We have found that with our cars (high HP) the reason that We believe the oil leaks have been so hard to maintain is due to the twisting of the housings and thus allowing the seal between the pan and housing to warp and let the oil seep though. You can add anything that you want to help keeping the seal good....but we believe that the elimination of housing twisting will be the biggest benefit of this pan for sealing purposes...not to mention that you can re-use an O-ring seal time and time again!

So far A-spec is selling the Pan and is helping with the design changes and information.

Ari Yallon Is Installing one in his race car and will also be giving input into the design and changes to the pan.

And Rob Golden is also on the design team and will be installing these pans on motors that he builds (when the customer is going for High HP!)

Again I believe (and a few other of the listed people above) that this pan will be the answer to the age old leaking problem from the oil pan.... it’s still in the final stages of development and will be dialed in soon!

The pan is selling for $375 on A-Spec's site

The pan will probably raise the motor up to 3/8th of an inch......(they are working on the exact measurement and seeing if milling the engine mounts reduces/removes this effect.

It will weigh more than the stock pan....but the advantage is the stiffness of the flange. (We will weigh one Monday)

That is all I can think of right now......I've gotten this information straight from the mouth of Ralph at Ground Zero Motorsports Here in Portland. He and RIch at MP Engineering originally designed the pan and sent it out to get feedback and ideas on how to make it better and I'm sure that they are open to any comments that you guys might have on ways to improve the design and performance of the part.

I'm most impressed by there desire to keep the RX-7 on the cutting edge by producing new and innovative parts for these great cars......and this is just the beginning!!

If you guys have any other question Feel free to shoot them at me or call Ralph or any of the other guys I mentioned......they Know FAR more about these cars than I do.....I'm still an NOOB!!!

Thanks
Brad Holbrook

 

cool, you got my interest.

 

you should make the oil pan two parts...

the first part bolts up where the motor mounts go, and just stay's there, never having to be removed unless you remove your motor.....

the second part should use the oring and bolt up using all the existing holes and to the part mentioned above.

(so really your just cutting the big flat part and making it two pieces that bolt together, one flat peice, and one oil pan peice)

then sell a new aluminum subframe so that is more resembles the rx8 subframe and we can remove the oil pan from under the car without dropping the subframe or taking out the motor.... that would be the best idea!!!

 

Doubt anybody would buy it....Most people won't pay over $400 for an aluminum oil pan

 

well, i would hope that this would keep the rotor housings from torqueing and twisting as you say, because if not, i would think that the o ring could be damaged from the edge of the rotor housings and side plates. all it takes is one or two tweaks and the edge will knick or slit the o-ring and BAM .... oil leak.

 

Exactly....that is why the flange is so reinforced and thick to prevent that twisting and torqueing! This feedback is exactly what Ralph and the rest of the guys wanted...keep it comeing guys and Thanks!!

 

i know... cheapo's.... haha oh well, i'll still buy this eventually...

 

Just so everyone gets a chance to see and to let you guys know we will be weighing that pan today!!

 

well this is all great but I was at my mechanics the other day and my mechanic said that his mechanic has a leaky oil pan also. now my mechanic was thinking of checking his car for the same problem. I am now thinking I should take my car to my mechanic to have my mechanic check out my car. You see my mechanic has the only dual set of T-78's on an RX-7 ever so my mechanics car is fast and my mechanic needs a good oil pan that will not leak. You should all meet my mechanic someday, the end. J/K duboisr

 

lol. Ya, I'm buying this thing for sure.

 

Will the o-ring will seal completely? Have you noticed the height difference between the rotor side housings and rotor housings? I would guess there is about 10-20 mils of difference on some housings.

 

mils as in millimeters? Because if that's the case, there are some serious issues with your engine since 10mm = 1 cm = .39 inch ~ 1/3 inch....

 

I hope he means THOUSANDS.......but that is exactly what we are trying to prevent with this pan.....Housing twisting and loosing the good seal on the pan......

 

How is this better than the staff's oil pan brace which sells for less than 1/2 the cost? Engine fitment will be an issue. The staff's brace wasn't as thick (to my knowledge) and Gotham had a hard time getting my engine in.

 

That is The reason it's better.......and like I said the engine fitment thing is being looked at to Keep the Install nice and clean!

 

haha for sure. Do you know if we will get the proper size bolts for this?

 

I can't remember the weight exactly but it is around 6-7lbs, this pan is very robust. I should be installing one in about a week it won't be on a stock motor car though so it will be hard to tell what exact changes to height it would make for most of you guys. The staffs brace is not as rigid as this pan so it should provide better resistance to twisting.

-Sean

 

It got deleted

 

Mils=thousands of an inch

I would still use sealant in conjunction with an O-ring. Let us know how it works!

 

Hows it working?

 

I received a PM from Sean concerning the oil pan. A-spec should be selling them soon, so I'm pretty excited about buying/installing one.

Will we get new motor mount/oil pan BOLTS is what I want to know....if not, then I'll need to get a thickness measurement of the oil pan so I can prepare...