Lost an Oil Pan Today

[Roger Poirier]

Driving down what I thought was a normal paved road today I see smoke floating up along both sides of my car. Then a trail of oil from my rear view mirror. I stopped the car and turned off the ignition immediately. Looking under neath I'm leaking like a fizz. Apparently I bottomed out and scraped the oil pan big time.

To top everything off I got caught in a 10 minute rain storm with the car. Yep right over my head. 1/2 mile away no rain. Mine you I can handle the rain. However, black is a bitch to clean watermarks.

Now the engine/trans has to be pulled and a new low profile oil pan installed. Because the headers on Pontiac's sit almost underneath the heads you need to remove the fenders and wheel wells also. Reinstalling / matching the fenders and hood to a very funky rubber nose is not easy and very time consuming. All this has to be done long with a punch list of 10 items before Goodguys Columbus.

A funny thing happen as I was calling the flatbed company for pick up. Oil all over the road, rain pouring down like buckets, a wet five dollar bill goes blowing through the wind right by me. I reached out and snatch it. For every negitive there is a positive. It just didn't equal out in monetary value.

Wish me luck I have 2 weeks to accomplish this before Goodguys in Columbus.

R.P.