woah...I didn't mean for this to get ugly, or sway people not to get the pan...I like the pan, but never imagined all the side effects of using "race only" products on the street; I've got plenty on my car, and I sure as hell didn't think the pan could fail like this, just made me think of other situations I can get myself into with "race only" products. There was a thread was posted in this forum about this pan, so I figured I'd post a warning if using on the street. (I didn't post this in the race tech forum...)

 

wow that sucks, but could have been avoided if he bent some sheet metal into a sheild in the first place. I mean concidering how much work the car has and how much the guy knows (it was stated, i don't know) you would think a sheild for the cast aluminum would have been made. But you learn from your mistakes. I hope that doesn't stop him or anyone else from using the pan tho.

 

A mate of mine has a souped up VW, aiming for 800bhp, his sump sits around 1" lower than the subframe.. bad huh :P

 

accidents. they do happen. def does not mean the pan is a bad item unless you were trying to split rocks with it.

 

ok that was funny. but this topic is kinda serious. ;__;

 

This was NOT directed toward the owner of the broken oil pan. I was getting off on a general rant and I shouldn't have been.

 

I dont think any oil pan would take a rock at 60 with the weight of the car on top. Any oil pan would crack, maybe not to that degree.

 

The stock pan will not crack, it will dent. It's a soft steel; it will crumple like a body panel.

Dave

 

It would crumple inwards and probably leak oil heavily from the sides. It would definately not have a huge chunk torn out of it. If anything, the impact site would crack the pan (create a tear), but nothing so catastrophic as seen in that picture.

 

take it to the local shop and have them tig weld it...not the end of the world.

if the motor isn't right, pop it open and replace the bearings. also, not the end of the world.

so we've got a terrible accident. doesn't mean the pan isn't cool, or doesn't do its job. just means that that guy ran something over. could have happened to any of us.

 

wasn't the point of the thread.

 

Coulda ran over a small child at 60 and exploded his fiberglass front bumper into a billion pieces and taken out an fmic. Doesnt mean those products are bad. **** happens

 

I drive my car everyday, live in NY(we all know how the potholes, manholes, road debris, etc. are here) and I've never had any problems with this pan. There are 3 basic reasons for the installment of this pan, #1 increased oil capacity, #2 decreasing motor flex due to the oil pan being more rigid, allowing less shifting of the plates and housings, and #3 no oil leaks from the pan due to the rubber oring type seal on the pan. In my opinion the GZ oil pan itself doesn't sit that much lower than the stock pan as can be seen in the pics provided below. More information on the installment of this pan can be seen in this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/ground-zero-lim-oil-pan-pics-381553/

I don't see how anyone can say that this pan is "bad" or shouldn't be used just because one person had a bad experience with it, I mean c'mon, it wasn't made to withstand an impact like that. This is racing, NOT a demolition derby.

 

that's what i thought...everyone just blew it up.

it has its benefits...this is one of the drawbacks. if you want the pan but don't want it sticking out from under the subframe, go to your local hardware store and grab some big fender washers...shim up your motor mounts and raise the whole **** up.

 

Wont work as easy as it sounds you'll have to shim the strut tower bar as well. Just go grab some 1x1"x12" angle iron and weld it in front of the pan on the subframe if your that concerned. It really sticks out so little it's not necessary but..... everyone on here now is over worried about it.

 

^wasn't being specific... my poin was only that there are ways around it.

 

Sweet new oil cooler your buddy has there Carson.

 

Wow !!! It was simply an unfortunate accident.

If I'm not mistaking...that same debris also took out his front bumber!

Imagine if that big rock/boulder had skipped the oil pan but hit the transmision instead ????? it would most likely cracked the bottom cover .....now what ????

The pan is very thicki construction so I could imagine how big the debris was....
Again, an unfortunate accident.

JD

 

lol...

 

fwiw, this happened to the stock pan on my last BMW 325 *twice*. both times it took out my fuel filter as well. that freaking sucked... road crews suck.

 

Must have been hit by something big to make that much of a chunk blow off an oil pan.

Post pics!

 

bah... little duct tape will fix that right up

 

Can you say "skid plate" ?

Below is a FACTORY skid-plate out of Mercedes South Africa that I have installed on my AMG engine.

Why doesn't someone make a skid-plate for our FD's . . .

:-) neil

 

Because the stock oil pan is well above the bottom of the subframe and a skidplate would be nearly useless.

 

Skid-plate for those who run a deeper one, of course. Yes, the stock one is "safe".

:-) neil