The OILPAN!!

Swingin' low (the old)

Off with the old, on with the new. Stocker on the left, KEP shortened pan and shortened suction tube on the right. Dipstick tube is in a different location.

To get the dipstick out I had to bend it slightly. No worries, you'll have to bend it again to fit later. I cut the bracket off, leaving a small nub **for grip**......

You will need to re-shape your dipstick tube slightly. Find something round. I used a fire extinguisher.

If you have the time, remove the pan and let it drip for awhile. It takes about 24 hours afer shutting off the engine for the oil to stop running down over the gasket surface.

I used loctite to hold the studs at the depth (about 3/8 inch protruding).

It would have been better to loctite the studs in first then after it's cured, goop it up with silicone and install the pan. But no....it's Memorial day weekend and I'm outta here! Gonna go drive some rough roads!

I shaped a brass wire, poked into the hex socket of the stud as a guide, then slid the washer and nut up the wire. It was actually quite easy! And there's enough room to tighten it in many little steps with a 12 pt box end wrench.

For this operation, it is essential to have a hole in the stud (hex socket in this case).

I bent the diptube on the KEP pan outward. To do this I heated the flat top of the pan with a torch, burning the new paint, and making a wowie on the flat top. It clears the timing belt cover by 1/2 inch, perhaps a bit too much. I would have been happy with 1/16 inch, but got a little carried away.

The diptube is sealed into the socket on the oilpan with two O-rings. Be sure not to ovalize the socket if you get yourself all convinced into bending it rearward as I did.

When all is done, with the diptube in the bracket (as in the photo to the right--->) the diptube should be 'centered freely' in the socket, so the o-rings can do their job.

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Here's my upper dip tube support arrangement.. The loopclamp is bolted into an extra 8mm threaded hole on the alternator bracket. The funky "shoulder bolt" shown is a part from a BMW motorcycle.

The larger heaterhose around the dip tube is squeezed onto the nub left by the original mounting bracket (recall a few photos back). This heaterhose segment bearing against the loop clamp above keeps the diptube firmly planted into its socket in the oilpan below.

I had told Lisa that I would install the oilpan Friday afternood for a 6PM departure. She and Chloe have been milling around for hours, and they want RESULTS! Please remember this is half a saturday into Memorial day weekend.

I know you all have more time for a cleaner installation, and now that you've seen it you have no excuse! As for me, this is how it will be for the next ten years.

Here's where my dipstick has moved to. I still have to open the engine cover to check the oil, but that's OK. I need to look at it once in awhile anyway.

Yeah I know, you just have to see it don't you?

The dipstick is now 1/2" below the alternator (on my Urabus). Since the dipstick and tube are mainly the same size/shape as before, this means the dipstick itself has been raised 5/8 inch (1 1/8" - 1/2" = 5/8").

So the oil level markings on the dipstick have been raised 5/8 inch. So when you fill it to the "full" mark, the oil level in the engine is 5/8" higher than stock. Four qts of oil (and a new oil filter) shows up on the stick at the "full" mark.

So......5/8 higher oil level in the engine. That's not too bad, and four quarts of oil is enough to keep most 4-bangers happy. I'd say it's a success!!!!

On a stock Legacy, the dipstick top is 1 1/8" below the alternator.

With over 1 year driving experience, this level has turned out to be a good level.
I hope you were able to follow the logic. Sorry I don't have time to clarify the description.