59ab, 34ford, two piece oil pan, not good

[cas3]

long tale here, hope you can stay with me. been on here a few times with this project, its one that has been very uncooperative. motor was a used craigslist buy, old rebuild tag, ran it, seemed ok, one dead hole, fixed burnt valve, checked all the rest, cleaned out water jackets, ready to go with my "junk yard overhaul" it had the two piece oil pan on it, and i thought i was so cool to have that special pan dropped it in nearly a month ago. was waiting for parts, so decided to go after the front axle, pins bushings, brakes, etc. now, page two, last weekend i went on a shopping spree out to south dakota to a guy i met many years ago at swap meets, he is a scrap iron/auction guy with the license plate on his truck stating "JUNKRDAV" got the picture? so, he has sheds full of you name it, and we went shopping. so at one point i find a pile of NOS for stuff from the 30's, nothing too exciting, some spring shackle kits, some mechanical brake rods and brake springs, some radiator support rods i need, goody-goody, and really not so great stuff. just about to move on and i see a NOS oil pan!! well, i dont really need one, but its new, so i better keep one in stock. all is good, went home. monday morning i am sitting in my nest, i call it, where i drink my morning coffee, check the barn, surrounded by vendor catalogues and the green bible, and near the wood stove...my nest. so, my view from the nest with the morning sun shining in, at a glance i notice i see no light between the wishbone and the oil pan. that cant be!!! i was just under there installing the starter and pipes, it cant be!!, i looked, and yes, its true zero clearance. so, now i am having trouble absorbing the signs from the gods, i bought an oil pan the day before i needed it, so should i buy a lottery ticket now? or write it off as dumb luck for a dumb mechanic. PS, i then searched the forum, and only a month ago was a thread about this issue on a 32 wishbone.......how did i miss that?

[Jay in Mass]

Over the years I have installed those 2 piece pans in two 34 Fords and one 35 Ford with no problems. All of them had 59AB engines.
The two piece pans are very handy for clutch and flywheel replacement. Just remove the lower inspection / service cover. No need to remove the pan.

[john in illinois]

On my AV8 I notched the flange.

John

[1931 flamingo]

What shape is your front spring in??
Paul in CT

[cas3]

puzzling indeed. spring is good, complete and new bushings. i even put a straight edge against the wish bone, not bent. a notch may work, but i hate to wreck valuable parts. probably will change the pan. not a hotrod, no burnouts in this car, clutch should out live me!!

[PeterC]

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That's interesting that you have no clearance. Here' s my 35 Ford with a 59AB and 2-piece truck oil pan - no problem with clearance and even with a 2" dropped axle and reverse eye springs. Can't help but wonder if you have the right motor / trans mount set up or what condition your front spring set up is in?

[burly]

Wow, Glad I read this! I was planning on using the ford engine mount that raised the later block about 1 & 1/2" with the 2 piece pan and a 4" dropped axle with original spring. May have saved me a few headaches? Thanks!

[Tim Brown]

I have owned 2 model 40's with 59A motors and truck oil pans. It was close, but didnt hit anything. Is the front end sitting too low? Reversed eye spring? Leaf Springs removed? It will work if its setup right.