Thread: oil pan-aluminum vs steel

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Hi all,
After many years the chrome on my sbc oil pan is in sorry shape. I'm torn between getting a polished cast aluminum one or a chromed stamped steel. Any real advantages of one over the other?
Thanks,
Milner

chromes cheaper?

Steel would repel rocks and other road debris better should they ever be contacted.....

Aluminum disapates heat better, chrome traps the heat inside.... The steel pans will take a bit more abuse of course, but if dragging it on the road isn't a concern the aluminum would be my choice.... We run Stef's aluminum pans on drag cars, never have had any problem with them....

Yep, aluminum on a track car would be good. I've had two dented pans on the street. One was a rock on a mountain road, the other was a steel bar that fell off the back of a truck. So for me it's steel on the street.

Aluminum breaks, steel doesn't.



Be careful with some of the aftermarket chrome steel oil pans.
The front doesn't fit the timing cover properly, the gasket doesn't fit, ergo, oil leaks....

Originally Posted by C9x

Aluminum breaks, steel doesn't.



Be careful with some of the aftermarket chrome steel oil pans.
The front doesn't fit the timing cover properly, the gasket doesn't fit, ergo, oil leaks....

I haven't seen a decent aftermarket chrome pan for years..... Think if I were to run chrome I'd pick a good heavy steel pan that fits right and have it chromed.....

I've got 4 seasons on one of my aluminum pans, no problems. Granted, life on the track is a bit different. But I've also seen a lot of the original Cobra and Shelby aluminum pans still alive and doing fine after a bunch of years.... If it goes on a car, it will break. Don't matter what it's made of, nothing on a car is bulletproof!!!!

well a cast alum pan could crack but a 3003 alum welded pan thats .060to .080 wall would hold up better i think then steel

A little story about a nice full fendered 32 roadster.
Owned by Jim Davis of B&M Transmission fame if I remember right.

He was out of town and caught an aluminum pan on one of the new gas stations overly tall filler manholes.
Broke the pan, dumped oil all over heck and gone.

Not sure what was done for repairs, off to the local wrecking yard perhaps.

If it was steel a muffler shop could have made temporary repairs.

Gotta admit though, the aluminum pans look good and I'm tempted on the trans pan.

Maybe an aluminum skid plate on standoffs . . . ya think?

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Which brings up the obvious question; why are those things so tall?

My roadster has quite a bit of ground clearance, but some of the way out of the ground manholes stick up out of the ground so far that I worry about driving over them in my 4x4 Ranger....

Skid plates are always a good idea, and on a lot of builds can be incorporated to look and work good.... Whenever it's possible I try to keep the oil and trans pans above the bottom of the frame rails, sometimes that means either sacrificing the "low look" or interior foot room but a necessary evil considering some of the nasty roads! Aluminum pans certainly aren't the answer for all builds, but with some careful planning they can certainly be run on the street...

well if your going like hell and peel the pan thats on you but 3003 alum is damn near dead soft at 080 i not taking cast alum but sheet 3003 alum welded pan .you not going to punch a hole in it any faster then a 030 steet pan and you can grind on it longer on the road if thats what you want to do have used both and have welded steel pans on cars that have ground all the way around the pan look like some one was trying to use a can opener on it . dont you just love them oil pan plug ground half way off ?? i did not want to do it but the guy said he was not going to pull the oil pan if you wanted you could try welding a alum pan with a spool gun have fix some steel pans were the rods came out to