on my '68 Coronet I had a deep-sump oil pan put on when I had that engine rebuilt. It hangs a couple inches below the cross-member (looks cool - I still haven't entirely grown up). But it's a very skiddish feeling to know that if I take a road at higher speed with dips in it, it could be a real problem. I always wanted to fashion a thick aluminum shield.
Yeah. My brother once outran an early seventies Fury III Police interceptor with a 440 due to the latter's oilpan damage. The most humiliating part of the incident (for the Maine State Trooper) was that my brother was driving a Peugeot 505 diesel (2.4l, 70 hp) at the time.
Here's what happened: Bombing down a backroad in northern Maine. Long, steep downhill, very rough. Brother cruising down the hill, speed limit 45, on the Poo-goat's bottomless suspension at about 75, no problem. Cop comes after him. Brother opens the 'goat up, which on a steep downhill resulted in a mechanically governed top speed of an indicated 100mph. By this time, his wheels are often off the ground, but since he's up against the governor, he hardly notices, as the revs don't change, and all that suspension travel was acting like it was made for touch-and-go landings. Still, cruiser gaining fast, but brother just kept his foot down and waited for the inevitable, as he knew the road well. Looks in the mirror to see the cruiser sail off a bump into midair and come down nose-first at a pretty steep angle midway up the next bump. Car parts go every where, including a big chunk of the pan. Cruiser coasted to a stop. Brother did not.
Dan -- Dan Weeks Freelance Writing and Photography 515/279-4825 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
