Reversible oil pan?

[thescifiguy]

My new used 2.0 engine has the belly or deep part of the oil pan in the front of the engine, whilst my old '68 1.9 has it oriented towards the rear. The hole in the block for the dipstick in the 2.0 is just a little forward of midway and my 1.9 had it sticking out of the aluminum oil pan itself at the rear where the belly of the pan is. The 2.0 has a steel pan.

Am I going to have trouble fitting the front oriented oil pan engine in my GT?
Will it hit the suspension or engine mount cross members?
Are oil pans on these engines reversible?
Are there pros and cons to front or rear orientation?

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy My new used 2.0 engine has the belly or deep part of the oil pan in the front of the engine, whilst my old '68 1.9 has it oriented towards the rear. The hole in the block for the dipstick in the 2.0 is just a little forward of midway and my 1.9 had it sticking out of the aluminum oil pan itself at the rear where the belly of the pan is. The 2.0 has a steel pan. Am I going to have trouble fitting the front oriented oil pan engine in my GT? Will it hit the suspension or engine mount cross members? Are oil pans on these engines reversable? Are there pros and cons to front or rear orientation?

Front sump CIH engine pans were typically used in later year FWD models and absolutely will not fit in any of the US Opels.

Pans are NOT reversible as the semi-circle arcs at each end of the pan are different sizes!

[heimue]

Originally Posted by tekenaar Front sump CIH engine pans were typically used in later year FWD models and absolutely will not fit in any of the US Opels.

Otto,

I would not know any CIH used in a FWD configuration. All Opel FWD cars I can think of have OHC / DOHC engines.

Dieter

[opelnut10]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy My new used 2.0 engine has the belly or deep part of the oil pan in the front of the engine, whilst my old '68 1.9 has it oriented towards the rear. The hole in the block for the dipstick in the 2.0 is just a little forward of midway and my 1.9 had it sticking out of the aluminum oil pan itself at the rear where the belly of the pan is. The 2.0 has a steel pan. Am I going to have trouble fitting the front oriented oil pan engine in my GT? Will it hit the suspension or engine mount cross members? Are oil pans on these engines reversible? Are there pros and cons to front or rear orientation?

You cannot use the front sump pan on your car so it doesn't much matter what it came out of. If the engine is a CIH 2.0 you can use the pan and pickup tube from your 1.9. You have a couple of ways to go with dip stick, but I would use the stick from your pan and plug the hole in the 2.0 block.

[thescifiguy]

I use an auto tranny, so the fill tube is in the same vicinity as the '68 dipstick coming out of the oil pan. I'm not happy with that location and the oil pan dipstick hole seems prone to leaking, even with a new rod and felt pad. The new 2.0's location on electrical side of the engine seems much better and is higher, which would seems to leak less or not at all.

Can I use the existing parts from my 1.9 and 2.0 to reuse my '68 oil pan, but retain the use of the 2.0's dipstick hole? I haven't pulled off either oil pan yet, so, can the dipstick tube or whatever is inside the 2.0 be rotated, bent, or remounted to go towards the rear?

Why don't you recommend using the 2.0's dipstick location?

[markandson]

I believe you will have to use all the 1.9 parts in order for it to fit. You will also have to use the oil pickup from the 1.9 and its associated support that is bolted to one of the main bearing caps.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy Can I use the existing parts from my 1.9 and 2.0 to reuse my '68 oil pan, but retain the use of the 2.0's dipstick hole? Why don't you recommend using the 2.0's dipstick location?

The problem is the '68 pan. Use a newer 1.9 pan with the matching dipstick. You may be able to use the 2.0 dipstick, I don't know. Your block probably has two holes on the drivers side a few inches from each other near the pan rail. My guess would be that your dipstick is in the front hole and the rear is plugged. In our applications I've only seen it in the rear hole with the front one plugged. You can use whichever 1.9 pan you choose with the correct oil pickup for the pan. The most trouble free appl. is going to be the Al pan though. If you use the steel pan you will also need to install the metal guide tube for the dipstick into the rear sump.

HTH,
Harold

[oldopelguy]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy Why don't you recommend using the 2.0's dipstick location?

That dipstick position won't be going down into the sump of the pan anymore, it will be hitting the bottom in the shallow part of the pan. When it does hit bottom, it will either stop there or have to bend and contort to follow the pan, and it won't measure level well.

[DennisGardiner]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy My new used 2.0 engine has the belly or deep part of the oil pan in the front of the engine, whilst my old '68 1.9 has it oriented towards the rear. The hole in the block for the dipstick in the 2.0 is just a little forward of midway and my 1.9 had it sticking out of the aluminum oil pan itself at the rear where the belly of the pan is. The 2.0 has a steel pan. Am I going to have trouble fitting the front oriented oil pan engine in my GT? Will it hit the suspension or engine mount cross members? Are oil pans on these engines reversible? Are there pros and cons to front or rear orientation?

You want to remove the 'front sump' oil pan, oil pick-up tube and bracket along with the dipstick and dipstick tube.

Then you want to block off the opening (where the 2.0L dipstick tube came out of.

Then install your 1.9L 'rear sump' oil pan, rear sump oil pick-up tube with bracket, and the continue to use the dipstick from your aluminum rear sump oil pan.

You will probably also want to swap on your valve cover as well.

[opelbits]

OGTS has the soft metal plug to seal the unused dipstick hole in the block. Works very well.
Just make sure that you put the dipstick on the driver's side. Some pans had them on the passenger side (Kadetts, I think?). These are next to impossible to live with in a GT as you will burn your hand everytime you go to check the oil.