Removing the Oil Pan From a 1953 Kaiser Manhattan
(An Exercise In Patience and Persistance)
First off, I want to express my immense respect for anyone that was a Kaiser mechanic way back when. While the Kaiser is an amazing car and I love owning one, they're not the easiest cars to work on in my experience. That being said, I recently removed the oil pan on my 1953 Manhattan in order to clean the sludge out and replace all of the gaskets and seals. This car has been off the road since 1974 and I'm currently involved in a campaign to get it back on the road. Let me just say that I have NEVER had to go through so much trouble just to remove an oil pan. When I finally got the pan back on I decided to write up a little how-to for new Kaiser owners or old Kaiser owners that want to know how this is done and what they are in for.
Ok, let's get right into it. First step, of course, would be to get the car up to a workable height. Next I drained the oil via the drain plug on the back side of the pan. Next part is kind of weird but trust me, it is necessary. I drained the coolant and took the radiator hoses off. You also need to remove the timing chain cover. We'll get to the why of it later but it has to be done. I removed my fan and water pump as well. I don't know if you could access the cover properly with those on there. Mine needed to be removed anyway so I went for it. At any rate, get the timing chain cover off any way you see fit. Now you need to prepare the engine to be lifted about 3-4 inches. I disconnected my fuel line, accelerator linkage, and the battery ground cable. I loosened my motor mount nuts until they were almost all of the way off the studs. I left them on because I didn't want the engine to actually come completely off of the mounts. I attached a chain to the block by putting two grade 8 bolts through the chain and threading them back into the block using the holes that the water pump uses. I used a shop crane/cherry picker to lift the engine up until it made contact with the engine mount nuts. You can tell when it's there because the entire car will start to lift.
Now it's time to get underneath and disconnect the two tie rods and the drag link from the idler lever. Pretty straightforward procedure outlined in the '51 shop manual. The only tip I would give is to use a pickle fork attachment on an air hammer. I beat the heck out of those things with a hand hammer before giving up and buying an air hammer attachment. They can be had cheap at any Harbor Freight store. I would also add that you are most likely going to tear the dust boots on these parts so be prepared to find some of those. I got a universal set at my local auto parts store. When you get those loose, swing them to the side and tie them up out of the way. Note that the idler lever can be rotated right or left to make a little more room. Or, if you're feeling a bit more adventurous and want even more room, it can be removed. I chose not to be more adventurous than necessary and left mine in place.
I also removed the exhaust hanger on the passengers side that attaches to the transmission housing via a single bolt. Seemed like it might get in my way. Next, I removed the bolts holding the flywheel cover on. Note that my car has a Hydramatic transmission and the setup may be different on a manual trans. car. The cover cannot be removed before removing the oil pan so just let it hang in place.
Next, I removed all of the oil pan bolts. A little tip for you on the very front two pan bolts. Lay down under the car on your back with your feet towards the rear and your head right under the harmonic balancer/vibration damper pulley. If you look up you can see where the pan curves around and goes under the front of the block. You can't actually see the bolts because of the front plate but if you reach up you can feel them. A ratchet with a deep well 1/2" socket can be used to remove those two bolts. Pry the pan loose from the block. Now comes the part that may vary from job to job depending on what position your crankshaft is in. The crankshaft must be in what I like to call the "sweet spot" in order to clear the oil pan. You'll just have to put a 1" wrench on the harmonic balancer/vibration damper bolt and spin the engine a little at a time until you find it. You'll know when you do because the oil pan will come loose and you will be able to pull it down. You may or may not have to reach inside the pan with a pair of needle nose pliers and remove the pickup on the oil pump by pulling out the cotter pin. Mine caught on the pickup so I did remove mine.
At this point the pan should simply slide out along with the flywheel cover. Next obstacle is the removal of the front and rear filler blocks. The oil pan gasket goes underneath these blocks so they must be removed. The rear block is easiest, being held on by only two bolts. The front block is another story altogether. Now you'll see why the timing chain cover needed to be removed. There are a total of 6 fasteners holding the front filler block on. Two regular bolts that go vertically up into the engine block, one allen head bolt that goes horizontally through the filler block and into the front engine plate, and three of the timing chain cover bolts that screw into threaded holes in the filler block. Wow...can you say overkill?? You have already removed three of the bolts when you took off the timing chain cover. Now you need to rotate the crankshaft again until you find "sweet spot #2". The crank will be in the perfect position allowing you to access both sides of the filler block. Remove the allen head bolt on the passengers side of the filler block first. Then remove the two vertical bolts. Finish up by scraping off the old pan gasket.
Voila!! You have now been through the most complicated oil pan removal I have ever seen in my life! Installation is simply ("simply" HA!) the reverse of removal. I used a Fel-Pro gasket set that came with the two-piece pan gasket, the rubber seals for the filler blocks, and the crankshaft rope seals. Refer to the service manual for detailed instructions on seal replacement. The only tip I have for you on installation would be to snap a few pictures of the crankshaft "sweet spots" so that you can easily position it again. Ok, maybe two tips. The second one would be to have a buddy with you during installation. A second set of hands and eyes makes things easier. My "buddy" was my wife. She was right there under the car with me the whole time. Thanks honey!! Anyway, I wish you luck and patience my friends. After you get done don't forget to do the most important step of all, get out there and DRIVE THOSE KAISERS!!
