SO I was installing the Gotham Brace on my oil pan and some how I snapped a nut, it was still spinning somewhat free, which was odd. So I had to remove the whole pan and I was looking at the bolt holes in the brace and they were way off! So I used a few drill bites to drill them out further so I do not come to the same problem, ontop of that the brace is not flat, which may hinder sealing and proper torquing.

Has anyone had this kind of problem installing the Gotham Brace, not lining up properly?

I just bought a can of "The Right Stuff for Imports" that I am going to reseal the pan with now, although I am not sure if I am going to use the brace, so I do not snap another bolt. If I do, I may try to find some studs you use rather than the bolts.

Does anyone know what length of studs are used? I know Morso has a kit, but I do not think it will work with the brace, and I cannot wait that long to get them.

 

Might be a dumb question, but do you have the brace on upside down, if that matters anyway. I have the moroso studs installed on my oilpan with a brace. They allow you to tighten it down more with out the risk of stripping the aluminum threads. They get a thumbs up from me.

 

Ditto on the Moroso oil pan studs - only $20 or so from Summit and make installing the oil pan real clean and quality.

Dale

 

You have it backwards or upside down. Properly installed, the holes line up.

 

Nope there is only one way you can intall it because of the the way the front cover is formed. Besides, by the looks of it it is not machined cut, it was done by hand, no machine would be so wavy. They line up now that I enlarged the holes.

I found out the size of the oil pan studs. Poss, were the studs long enough to allow good thread engagement?

 

Dale, I know that you have posted the part number before but I can't seem to find it. I thank you kindly good sir if you would you please post again.

TRAV

 

The threads are about an inch long. Plenty of thread contact.

 

Yes, my mechanic and I had the same problem, and yes the brace is "wavvy." We took a drill-press and enlarged at least 20% of the holes, and we checked if had it upside down, or not orientated correctly.

We also got the longer bolts from Gotham, and they work fine once. I think the "wavvy"/not flattness is by design, like a wavvy washer that when tightend places equal pressure around to help seal.

FWIW, we also used "The Right Stuff" sealant, including the motor-mounts, and everything is nice and drip-free since January 2005.

:-) neil