Rebuilding Modifying Twin Cam Sump.

[ceejay]

There Has Been Much Written and Discussed About Four Bolt to Six Bolt Lip Seal Conversion.

We have completed several of these conversions for owners here in Australia as well as overseas. But the original pressed sheet metal twin cam sumps are becoming difficult to source.

We received an email this morning from a UK owner who was looking for an off the shelf six bolt sump, or the parts to carry out the conversion, unfortunately we had none of the required parts, nor any completed sumps.

Some time back I came across a sump, of which I was informed was a Ford Pinto, but I'm still not completely sure of that, but what took my interest was that the large (6 bolt) and small seal enclosures/flanges of this sump are exactly the same as the twin cam, the sump it self fits perfectly onto the 1600 and twin cam block, (stud holes all align) but of course the sump bowl is totally incorrect, being rear mounted, but the bottom section could be cut off and turned around to the front as per elan arrangement, and re-welded to the base, anything is possible with some thinking and good sheet metal engineering skills.

With original twin cam sumps now quite difficult to obtain, this could mean an opportunity to use this type of sump to reconfigure, fabricate and create a new sump to fit onto the twin cam block. It will mean quite a bit of fabrication work, and some good welding skills, IE, TIG or Oxy Acet Gas welding.

It is possible to fabricate from scratch the large six bolt lip seal arrangement which is then grafted onto the old 4 bolt sump, but it is a fiddly and time consuming process and requires precise fitment and good welding skills to get it right, but if you work carefully, it is possible to do a great DIY job.

To convert a twin cam four bolt - to six bolt sump, the idea is to mark out and carefully cut and remove the lip seal section and surrounding sheet metal from the Pinto sump, then proceed to cut out a section of the twin cam sump, and then graft/weld the Pinto Lip seal section into the twin cam sump... well, there's a bit more work involved, but I'm sure you get the drift.

The most important thing is to have an engine block to use as a welding/holding jig fixture, the eng block provides a totally rigid mount to prevent the distortion and warping created by the welding process.

DO Not attempt this fabricating work with out bolting the sump to the engine block, because the metal will pull and walk all over the place.

The best welding method is either TIG, or Oxy Acet welding, which is excellent for welding thin sheet mild steel.

The sheet metal fabricating process is involved and it would too long to explain it all here, we wrote a book about fabricating and carrying out the conversion, interested people can learn more at the link below.
http://elantrikbits.com/4-bolt-to-6-bol ... onversion/

The book provides valuable how to info, and could save you from several hair pulling moments.

We have included some photos below that show a bit more detail about the sump and the large and small seal flanges.

This sump (What ever its off) has several baffles inside which will need to be cut out and replaced with perhaps a swinging gate baffle system to control oil surge, it is all doable for the skilled DIY fabricator.

[2cams70]

That's a Mk2 1600 crossflow Escort sump. Pinto engine has a totally different block mounting flange.

[ceejay]

OK, now we know what it is...same principle still applies for donor parts eg seal flanges etc to mod a four bolter into a six bolter.

[rgh0]

Pintos appear to have come in a range of engines - 1600 pushrod ( basically the same as UK Escort and Cortina) 1600 OHC and 2000 OHC. I dont know how the sumps changed with the different heads and capacity. The 2000 OHC block ( and maybe the 1600 OHC block was larger and longer than the kent pushrod 1600 cc block but maybe the rear seal section was the same ?

cheers
Rohan

[ceejay]

Yes Rohan, with the multitude of models built over the years, it all gets a bit confusing, but whatever it is, if certain sumps can be cannibalised to get the seal flanges to help with twin cam 4-bolt-to-6-bolt sump conversions, then it has to be good, hence the reason for the posting and photos, hoping it might help others out there.

[joe7]

There are 2 types of rear seal carriers. While they both appear to be the same and have the same crank seal the difference is the width of the seal housing to the pan. I recall the "standard" T/C uses a cork seal and is narrower that the other type which uses a black rubber seal which is wider. I'm not sure where the wider version originates.

[2cams70]

"Pinto" is the colloquial generic name uses for the family of Ford iron head iron block SOHC engines originally used in the Ford Pinto car that was sold in the USA only. It was infamous for its exploding rear mounted fuel tank and like the Chevy Corvair has proven to be an excellent case study for those with an interest in corporate ethics! Pinto engine is available in 1.6, 2.0 and 2.3L versions. Yes poverty pack equipped Pinto's were fitted with 1.6 Kent crossflow engines. The Pinto engine was designed by Ford Germany and shares nothing in common (except engine and transmission bolt mounting locations) with the English Ford Kent engine.

[c42]

Prepared to be shot down here but I seem to remember that the Sierra 1.8lt CVH sump can be used on a crossflow or twincam.

John

[ceejay]

Its good to see these alternatives being thrown in, just needs someone to confirm... it may be not so much the whole sump being suitable, but the flanges front and rear (One or both) suitable for grafting onto an old four bolt twink sump.

[Slowtus]

"Pinto" is the colloquial generic name uses for the family of Ford iron head iron block SOHC engines originally used in the Ford Pinto car that was sold in the USA only. It was infamous for its exploding rear mounted fuel tank and like the Chevy Corvair has proven to be an excellent case study for those with an interest in corporate ethics! Pinto engine is available in 1.6, 2.0 and 2.3L versions. Yes poverty pack equipped Pinto's were fitted with 1.6 Kent crossflow engines. The Pinto engine was designed by Ford Germany and shares nothing in common (except engine and transmission bolt mounting locations) with the English Ford Kent engine.

"A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars."

Also sold in Canada.

[2cams70]

[quote"
"A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars."

Also sold in Canada.[/quote]

I believe Ford internal documents were leaked at the time showing how they were balancing the cost of re-engineering versus the cost of liability payments to families of dead people. Hence it's been used as a good case study for corporate ethics.

[Slowtus]

[quote"
"A subsequent analysis of the overall safety of the Pinto suggested it was comparable to other 1970s subcompact cars."

Also sold in Canada.

I believe Ford internal documents were leaked at the time showing how they were balancing the cost of re-engineering versus the cost of liability payments to families of dead people. Hence it's been used as a good case study for corporate ethics.[/quote]

Agreed, they did a cost benefit analysis to retain the location of the tank while issuing a recall to throw in a couple of bits of rubber to hopefully nullify the metal on metal impact...

That said, would we rather have the gas tank INSIDE the car or dangling behind the back axle


Apologies for the hijack, let's get back to the sumps...