Mopar Oil Pans

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A listing of G/RG, A/LA, and B/RB oil pans can be found here

In doing some recent engine swaps I've come across some of the unique characteristics of a few Mopar oil pans. The first pan discussed is the slant 6 oil pan and regard to A-bodies. The second pan discussed is the 63-65 RB/B oil pan for the same year B-bodies.

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Slant 6 Pans

After pulling a 1975 slant six out of a 1966 A-body, I found that the centerlink had almost rubbed a hole in the pan! As a mopar novice, it hadn't dawned on me that Chrysler would use different parts on sixes and eights and different oil pans on different year slant sixes (did I have some lessons to learn!) Below are three pans photographed to show some differences.

• 1963-66 A-body oil pan.
• 1967-76 A-body oil pan.
• 1963-65 B-body oil pan, which also fits 62 B-bodies and A-100 vans.

Green lines describe where the sumps begin and end.

The 1963-66 pan is shallow enough at the rear to clear the centerlink on 1963-66 A-bodies. The bottom picture shows the later pan to be 1" or so deeper. The B-body/A-100 pan is clearly a huge honker of a pan that would not clear any A-body from the looks of it. Its sump is too large and set too far back for an A-body.

Not pictured here are the pickups. Each of these pans comes with its own specially bent pickup tube, so be sure to get the correct pickup.

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B/RB Oil Pans for 1963-65 B-bodies.

Installing a B/RB engine in a 1963-65 B-body is fairly straight forward. A 1963-65 V8 k-member is required (a slant six member will need to be replaced) along with some factory 1963-65 B/RB engine mounts and engine mount brackets. Finding original mount brackets can be a real challenge, however Schumacher Creative Services is reproducing exact reproductions that can be purchased new.

The 1962-65 centerlink, pittman arm, and idler arm are the same for all years and all engines, so this should not be an issue.

Last but not least is the oil pan. There were at least two different pans originally used by the factory on B/RB 1962-65 B-bodies. One was the Max Wedge pan, and one was for 361s, 383s, and 1965 426 Street Wedges.

Other year big block pans are known to fit. Because of its availability and cheap price ($10 swap meet item), its hard to beat the "187/699" pan from 1965-1973 C-bodies. For 1965 and 1966 this pan wasn't stamped, but from 1967-1972 it was stamped "187". From mid 1972 through 1973 the same pan was stamped "699". Note that 1972-1973 Police 440s in C-bodies might come with a different pan, and its not certain that it'll fit the swap. For information on different B/RB pans, visit the Tables Section.

Here are pictures of the 187 pan installed in a 1963 Dodge 330 with: 1965 V8 K-member, Schumacher reproduction mounts (reproduced as replacements for the originals), and stock 63 centerlink. There is not a pan gasket or a windage tray installed at this point.

The Schumacher reproduction mounts are exact reproduction mounts and position the engine in the original location.

• pan clearance at centerlink
• pan clearance at k-member
• pan clearance at k-member

Above are pictures of a "187" pan that is known to fit 1963-65 B-body B/RB applications. The picture (above right) shows the unique shaping of this pan. The area A shows the shape of the sump, and area "B" shows the important clearance area for the idler arm on a C-body, but this clearance isn't really required for the 1963-65 B-body fit. It is barely visible, but the oil pan is numbered "187".