New kid on the block

[denisd]

To cut or not to cut. I have a 67 coupe 6 cyl. 200 that i am changing the oil pan gasket in. I have only had the car for a couple of mths. After removing the sway bar and all pan screws, the pan gets wedged between the crankshaft pulley and a "cross member" that has been welded on. I have been told that this cross member was originally bolted on only. Should I and can I without harming anything, cut the weld off and then retap the original holes for any future need.Was this cross member an original piece or is this something that was but on over the years. Will I disturb or damage anything if I do this?

 

[fasttback]

Would removing the pulley solve the oil pan problem (easy solution). Also you can raise the motor a little with a jack and wood blocks once the motor mounts have been unbolted for added clearance (works for v8...maybe 6 cylinders?).

As for the cross member - The v8 Mustangs were bolted on. I don't know about the 6 cylinders. If it's a problem, I would cut the welds with a disc avoiding the frame as much as possible and clean up with a flapper wheel. Retap if necessary.

 

[65Stang200]

Denis, that's not supposed to be welded like that I don't think. As long as you're careful, you shouldn't hurt the integrity of the area. But yeah, unbolt the motor mounts on the bottom (11/16 nuts?), and then the motor won't be bolted to the frame-mount part, and then you can jack the motor up. You might want to unbolt the two bolts from the mount on the tranny to the tranny crossmember, so you don't break that. I don't know if you can even break it that way, but that's how I always do it. Then you can set the motor back down and rebolt the mounts in. It's a pretty easy process. That's whatchu gotta do to change pistons and such, or that's the way I do it.

 

[Gailahan]

My car was an original 200 ci six and the crossmember definitely bolted on. I would cut it off, avoiding the frame like was mentioned above.