Bruce,Thank you for your response and thorough info and yes,others have
pretty well informed me to that point that it's possible and it's got to
come off to properly do the job .question,this is a 92' cougar (3.8) rear
wheel drive,and actually has a bad motor mount on the driver side too,just
how diffacult is it to get the pan off? I  am assuming that the engine has
to be loose from the mounts and raised to get the pan off, how close am i to
being right?  If i am at this point then the mount would be more accesible
to being replaced too,right? It looks like it was going to be a job and a
half to just replace the mount,so we where going to just take it in.but with
this new problem,we could probally know take care of both,do you have any
advice on to taking the pan off?? Thank you for your advice and time to get
through this.     Bob

 First, please locate a few of the lesser-used keys on your keyboard
and use them more often as called for.  The spacebar is the big wide
one on the bottom, and the "shift" keys to make Capital Letters are on
each side.

 If these keys are used properly (like capitalizing the first word in
sentences and proper names, a period and two spaces between sentences,
and making a paragraph break between different subjects) it makes it a
whole lot easier to read what you typed, quickly and without eye
strain...   ;-P

 Now then, back to your questions...

  There's nothing wrong with welding up a hole in the oil pan - but
before wasting the effort fixing the old one, see how much a
replacement will cost.  If you have to pay someone else to do the
repairs, it might be cheaper to find a good pan at a wrecking yard.

 I fixed one oil pan myself where it rusted through, but I have all
the equipment already.  Replacements are not readily available for a
1940's Willys MB generator engine, you fix what you've got.

 Get it off the car and cleaned up first - solvent tank and sandblast
or bead-blast with glass bead media.  Look for any other rusty spots
and make sure the sealing face where it bolts to the engine block is
not damaged.

 Get a body hammer and some sort of a backing support - a piece of 1"
black pipe clamped in a vise with a pipe cap screwed on the end, with
all the markings ground off smooth to provide a smooth rounded anvil
surface would be perfect.

 You need to carefully tap (not beat) the damaged spot flat and close
up the hole before you try welding it.  You may have to take an
oxy-acetylene welding torch and heat the steel in the damaged area to
a medium red to get it to bend back flat without a big fight.

 And if you fight with it and beat it to death with a hammer, you can
stretch the metal and end up with a warped potato chip - this is bad.
Then I would have to explain the techniques of metal shrinking...

 (Or you can cut out the damaged area and make a square or
rectangular patch to fit - but that's a lot more welding.  And on
fussy stuff like welding sheetmetal, less is better.)

 Once you have the pan back in the right shape, you can weld up the
ripped area with whatever welding process you want.  I use MIG wire-
feed welding because it is the easiest welding process to learn, the
equipment is reasonably priced and readily available.  Both flux-core
wire and gas shielded wire are easy - gas-shielded is cleaner, but you
have to buy a CO2 bottle and the regulator kit.

 But if you already have the gear and sufficient practice either
oxy-acetylene, TIG or Stick welding would work.  It's thin sheetmetal,
so if you use Stick you need to be very good, use very small rod, and
get the amperage just right.  Or all you'll do is just blow big holes
in the base metal, and make the problem worse.

 Repeat the welds from both sides to make sure it's really sealed,
and you won't have a leak later.

 Put the drain plug in the hole while welding and grinding, so any
weld splatters won't find the thread area or the sealing seat area and
create more problems.

 After it's welded, use a die grinder to clean up all the weld areas
and make sure the weld metal really penetrated the base metal - if the
welds didn't penetrate the sheetmetal you can see it when you clean up
with the grinder, they will peel right off like a scab.  (Clean it up
and do it again.)

 Then bead-blast again as final clean-up before you do paint prep,
primer, and at least two good coats of paint.   (You don't want it
rusting after you went through all that effort.)

     --<< Bruce >>--

question?? on my 92 cougar 3.8,the can bottomed out in a sink hole and right
by the oil plug on the pan, it hit and caused a small rip or hole in the
metel on the pan,the plug itself seems fine the damage is about 2 inches to
the side of it in a flat part of the pan,is it okay to weld it shut,what
type of weld is correct?? any do's or don't s to watch out for???? thanks