Hey,

Ok, I don't have a problem. I just solved one actually. I wanted to start this post, and hope it might be stickied so that we don't get the "my dipstick is on the wrong side!" posts anymore.

Anyway, this is how I solved it:

Get a long tube, maybe made of chromed copper like mine, and put that in place of the old dipstick tube. You want to do this because the stock one is too short for this type of fix.

Now, take off the drivers side manifold so you have easy access to the dipstick tube hole and side of the block/head. Put the new tube in the dipstick hole and carefully bend it, without seriously kinking it, to follow the side of the block and head as closely as possible, making sure the tube is long enough to poke up at least 1" or so above the exhaust manifold.

Now that it fits tightly to the block and you are sure its long enough, put the manifold back on and tighten it down to proper specs. You will notice that the manifold has pinched the tube, but it didn't pinch it shut.

Now, you will need a little longer dipstick. The way I did this was to cut the blade off of my original dipstick so I could reuse the handle.

For the new blade, I took a broken bandsaw blade, ground off all the teeth, cleaned it, and welded it onto the handle (soldering may work too).

Now, put the dipstick down the new tube untill you can feel it hit the pan and measure how much of the dipstick is poking out above the tube, add about another 2" to that number (example: 6" of blade poking out + 2" extra = 8" to cut off) so that it will not touch the bottom of the pan when finished, but will go deep into the oil.

Once its cut to a suitable length, do an oil change (oil and filter). First fill only 4qts into the engine, were the "low" measurement is on the factory dipstick, run the motor for a min to move the oil around, let it drain back for a minute, then pull out the dipstick and mark the oil level. This is your new "low" mark.

Now add the 5th quart and run it for a minute to work it around, then mark the dipstick again. This is the new "full" mark.

I marked mine by cutting a small groove in the side of the dipstick blade.

(NOTE: I assumed the stock Chevy 5qt pan for this)


Anyone else have anything to add?

 

:lala:

 

i'm missing somethin here.. whats the point of all that? what is the actual problem you are trying to correct?

 

the problem hes correcting is another person messing up... hes simply providing info on his encounters to save others..

hes a hero

 

Gee, doesn't sound like rocket science, I guess if I ever need to do that one I'll be able to, so cool.

Share what you know, learn what you don't.

Thanks for sharing, dude.

 

i have one word for you "headers". Use that as an excuse!

 

oh now i get it, if you use an older block and manifolds the dipstick tube doesnt clear the manifolds? never ran into that problem when i did my 350 swap cause i didnt even consider putting factory manifolds on.. the drivers side dipstick tube clears my headers just fine..

 

Why not just buy a new dipstick and tube and bend the tube where it needs to be. They are only 10 or 15 bucks. Pretty sure they would lookd better than a cut down hack saw blade.

 

Yea, its when you use an older block with the 3rdgen factory manifolds.

And you can't bend a tube to go under the manifold. The collector is directly in front. As for the dipstick... I used a bandsaw blade (not a hacksaw blade) because all the factory ones were too short and didn't even reach the oil.

And I agree about headers being the best solution, but I made this post because I noticed that not everyone gets headers. At least, not during the swap anyway, its usually later because the swap ran them outta money, like me.

I'm just sharing my experience with it so others who reuse the stock exhaust after a swap won't need as much Tylenol.

 

I figured this out when I droped an older 350 into my bird, actually the dipstick still worked crimped between the manifold and the head. I ended up using a fNord wire dipstick and made a new tube from some spare fuel line. I had the tubes & hoses guy expand and weld (silfloss) on the old connection and it worked too. When I got the headers on I went back to an OEM dipstick.