Rebuilding Modifying Twin Cam Sump.
Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2019 7:47 am
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.
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.