Oil leak

I rebuilt my F134 last year and had it running great. about two months ago I noticed a tiny spot of motor oil under the engine. so I looked for leaks. I saw a light coat of oil all over the bottom of the engine and around the oil pan gasket and wiped it off. Came back later and no new oil was found around the gasket or bolts of the oil pan. No oil coming out of the bell housing either. New oil was found accumulating on the skid plate of the oil pan itself. Not being sure of where it was, I tightened the gasket bolts a tiny bit and observed over the next day or so. A much bigger pool of oil formed but no oil leaking around the gasket seal that I could see. So I thought that it must be a hole in the oil pan somehow, so I pulled it this morning and sure enough. A crack had developed in the floor of the oil pan itself. Of course you can't see that from the outside due to the skid plate.

I had an extra oil pan from a second F-134 waiting for me to rebuild and so I replaced it. Looks like over the years the oil pans have hit rocks and what not and have some small dents in them causing the floor of the oil pan to be raised. The connecting rod bolts and nuts have actually impacted the floor of the oil pan in a spot or two on both of my oil pans! Over time the metal cracked on one of them.
Before I installed the replacement oil pan I took a block and hammer and attempted to reduce the raised areas sufficiently to get them away from contact with the connecting rod nuts/bolt ends.

It seems to me like there is not very much clearance in the oil pan for the rotation of the crankshaft and connecting rod bolts and nuts to clear. The dents in my oilpans aren't very bad at all. They should have made the things a half inch deeper.

Anyone else have this problem? or a good easy fix to prevent future occurances?

Sorry I don't have pics today but I will try to get some on or a link to some.

 

Sorry for the V E R Y late reply but I think I am having the same issue. Everything whipped down and oil pooling at the skid late - front left corner. Oil plug is very dry so its not coming from there. So - did you fix your old pan? If so how? Just have a good welder patch it? I want to save the pan because they are sort of costly.Thank you.

 

Oil pan can usually be brazed easily to fix a leak.

 

That's alarming that the rods can collide with the pan once dented. A strong impact to a rock could kill a rod. Interested in pan clearance for other engines, selfishly the AMC 304.