1966 Lincoln Continental Timing Chain Replacement

[Emas9420]

So far so good. I’m hoping this issue is behind me. The new issue I have is that I think the oil plug is a bit stripped and the crush washer is old. I tried buying a new one from this link but it’s way TOO small..

Is this the wrong part or did someone put a bigger plug in my pan because it was probably stripping? Anyone know what the correct size oil plug is.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002XIIC ... asin_title

[Lee]

If the drain plug you removed has 1 or 2 "slots" cut into the end, it's oversized already. Back when I was a parts jockey, there were 2 O/S sizes available, but I'm not sure that is still true.

[1Bad55Chevy]

Did the old ones have slots cut into them? The new ones are marked on the head like "M14x1.5 SO" and I know I have seen some marked up to tripple oversized (TO). When you are a real winner of a mechanic you use those piggy back drain plugs in an attempt to stop stripping your oil pan.... The things I find working on Chevy trucks will haunt your dreams.....

[Lee]

It looks like “some” of the new ones have slots, not all. Hey, it’s been well over 40 years…

[Emas9420]

The plug I have has no slots.. maybe it’s not oversized.. but then the one I got from Amazon (which looks to be the same as AUTOZONE etc) is wrong. Anyone know the right parts #?

[Dan Szwarc]

I tapped and did the whole M14x1.5 plug on my 66's 462 oil pan on the car from under. It weeps a tiny bit with copper gaskets.

[TonyC]

Good to see, Emanuel; here's hoping that job does stay permanent!

During the rebuild two years ago I did a thing, tapped out the plug hole in the pan to 9/16" while trying to keep the thread pitch the same (I think 24, it's a fine pitch). The original size is 1/2", but with the threads having been stripped I had to go up to the next practical size. I then bought the shortest brass bolt I could find of that size at the local hardware store, which proved not to be short enough...but I was able to trim it down, fix the threading on the end, and use it as my new drain plug. It works very well; with the disposable crush washer it's oil-tight. Of course, to prevent a repeat incident, with every oil change I am very careful to start the threads correctly; then when the bolt is hand-snug, I use my smaller torque wrench and open-end wrench head to torque it to exactly 21 foot-pounds. The manual says the torque range for the OE plug is 20–30 ft.-lbs.; but having tapped out the plug hole I stick to the exact setting of 21 to prevent the risk of stripping it again. There are times I admit to getting nervous when I apply the torque wrench, as it seems to take a while to reach such a low setting; but that's because of the crush washer compressing.

Of course, with all that extreme caution being mandatory, I do all my own oil changes. It's not only a matter of pinching pennies, but also a matter of serious insurance against somebody else's irresponsibility. After all, these old oil pans were never constructed to withstand 200 ft.-lbs. of torque like pans these days are. But Gen-Z'ers at those oil-change kiosks won't know that.

---Tony

[Emas9420]

Yeah +1 Tony on doing my own oil change.

But does anyone know which is the correct part # for the oil plug? Because the one i bought is way too small.. its actually so much smaller than the hole that it makes me think that obviously its the wrong part, and NOT that someone used an oversized plug.. i used RTV for now, i need to check if it sealed but next oil change im going to have to replace it.

[TonyC]

Hopefully somebody can prove me wrong, but I don't know if a part number could help as a cross-reference. If I'm wrong, then good. Otherwise, you may have to do what I did: Acquire a bolt of the correct dimensions which I posted above, maybe add a flat washer to help even out the compression on the crush-washer and make for a good seal. If the threads in the pan aren't stripped, then a 1/2", 24-pitch bolt should do the job. If the threads are stripped, you'll need to tap new threads at the next-larger size, which is 9/16". Tapping the pan while it's still on may be possible, but I did mine while it was still out, which made the job easier.

I forgot to mention one dimension: The length. To make it a practical plug, the bolt shaft should be between 3/4" and 1" long. Longer than that will make it too hard to remove for oil changes, and shorter than that may not be enough to fully secure on all the threads.

---Tony