Oil pan/Vortech oil drain tap

DaveWertz

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Messages
421
Location
Hughesville Pa
Aside from saving some cash for turner time I am all but ready to do my Vortech install. With that being said the oil drain line has me the most worried. Ideally I would just buy a new pan that has the fitting already there but money is tight with a child on the way so I have to work with what I have. Since I don't know what the exact fitting is that taps in the oil pan I may have to buy a whole new oil drain which I am trying to avoid. Anyone know the exact fitting? And what is the best way to punch the hole in the pan? I see so many conflicts on this im torn. I want to do this the easiest way possible without blowing shavings inside the pan...
 

blownstang4.6

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2011
Messages
469
Location
Chicago
Call Vortech to get the drain assembly and it will come with the fitting. They can probably tell you what punch to use or sell you one. Put alot of grease around it to catch any shavings. Then use a small magnet to get inside the pan around the whole to pick up any shavings. Wouldn't hurt to pour a quart of oil or so through it to flush out anything that may possibly be left.
 

DaveWertz

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Messages
421
Location
Hughesville Pa
Call Vortech to get the drain assembly and it will come with the fitting. They can probably tell you what punch to use or sell you one. Put alot of grease around it to catch any shavings. Then use a small magnet to get inside the pan around the whole to pick up any shavings. Wouldn't hurt to pour a quart of oil or so through it to flush out anything that may possibly be left.
I did call vortech. They want me to buy a whole new kit. I have the tube and male fitting just not the female that taps in the oil pan, If I can avoid spending $50 for the kit then I would like to. They couldn't tell me what the fitting is I.E. Size ect... Pretty frustrating dealing with them sometimes. I tried asking other vortech dealers and they refer me right back to vortech.
 

04DeadShort

SVT Addict
Established Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,491
Location
Carrollton, GA
Look on page 12. I used a small center punch and pierced a hole. Then I used a long taper/alignment punch. It's a fairly large punch. I measured with a dial caliper to 9/16" on the taper punch and marked it. I wiped the sweat off my head and drove it in to my mark. lol. Then I greased the tap and started it. I would go a few turns and back it out, clean the shavings and grease off, apply new grease and go again.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0...d_4.6L_Mustang_Cobra.pdf?14927723168699824884
 
Last edited:

DaveWertz

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Messages
421
Location
Hughesville Pa
By the looks of it Im going to have to buy the whole assembly, Sucks spending 50 bucks on a whole new one when Im sure the male fitting is a few bucks. Tapping the oil pan has me a bit puckered LOL. Soooo worried about getting metal in my oil pan. The rest looks pretty simple, the only other challenge I guess would be the coolant crossover which doesn't even look bad. I was given a brand new aluminum BPV with 3 diff springs I am hoping works better than the stock bosch. Not sure of the brand but 300 for a race valve is way out of the question right now.
 

96dreamer

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2007
Messages
2,233
Location
St.Louis
I never did like the idea of punching and tapping the pan. I pulled mine and had an an fitting welded on. It isn't that much work to pull the pan on these cars and it guarantees no leaks or metal in the pan.
 

Stanger00

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2011
Messages
3,051
Location
Rocklin, CA
Patience and using a good taper punch, you will hit crank if the taper is too pointy, to get to the correct size to run NPT tap. Use lots of grease. I think I did half turn and backed out. Cleaned grease off, reapplied and another half turn. I did this like 14 years ago when I was 21 and I was a little back at stuff too.

Try to find the fitting at a local hardware store.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

04DeadShort

SVT Addict
Established Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,491
Location
Carrollton, GA
By the looks of it Im going to have to buy the whole assembly, Sucks spending 50 bucks on a whole new one when Im sure the male fitting is a few bucks. Tapping the oil pan has me a bit puckered LOL. Soooo worried about getting metal in my oil pan. The rest looks pretty simple, the only other challenge I guess would be the coolant crossover which doesn't even look bad. I was given a brand new aluminum BPV with 3 diff springs I am hoping works better than the stock bosch. Not sure of the brand but 300 for a race valve is way out of the question right now.

Vortech gave us half the answer on page 12 and it is actually the half we needed to know. They said to tap the hole to 3/8" NPT. So we know the male side of the fitting that screws into the oil pan is 3/8" NPT. I assume you have the aluminum 90 degree tube that is flared with a male tube nut? If so, just take it to the hardware store and match it up.

Here is some examples of what you are looking for.

We're Sorry

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all99031/overview/
 
Last edited:

DaveWertz

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Messages
421
Location
Hughesville Pa
Vortech gave us half the answer on page 12 and it is actually the half we needed to know. They said to tap the hole to 3/8" NPT. So we know the male side of the fitting that screws into the oil pan is 3/8" NPT. I assume you have the aluminum 90 degree tube that is flared with a male tube nut? If so, just take it to the hardware store and match it up.

Here is some examples of what you are looking for.

We're Sorry

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all99031/overview/
Yes I have the 90 degree tube with the male nut. Vortech tech service is shit! And I couldn't agree more that the manual as a whole sucks as well. There are lots of things on there that seems like they cut corners. I wish someone would do a detailed video and post it on youtube. Could help
 

PACIFICGREENSVT

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Messages
3,003
Location
Starlite & Dusk
Yeah you could just make one for under 20 bucks. just go to a good hardware store. I still have one in the front of my pan I just put a plug in it.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top