3rd gens have zero useful jacking points much less jack stand points, so I've always jacked it up by the engine crossmember and then supported it by the frame rails that run under the floor pan. Well, the other day after sticking it up there, I went in the garage to gather tools and heard a stomach-turning crash. One of the jackstands had slipped. I ALWAYS leave the jack under the crossmember just in case of something like this, but the sudden movement caused the crossmember to slip backwards off the jack, and the jack ended up under the oil pan. It was half-supported by the knocked over jackstand, half supported by the oil pan.

No signs of obvious damage, so I jacked it back up and went to work replacing the governor and steering parts I'd started to. Well, today I wrapped that up, and decided to fire it up to pump new power steering fluid through the system before calling it quits for the night.

As always, it fired right up but there was a CLANGING sound from underneath. My first thought was something governor related, but it was coming from the front of the engine. I thought maybe it was an empty power steering pump, so I shut it down, removed the belts, primed the pump, and fired it back up. Still the horrible noise. I shut it down again, jacked it back, and then started it again.

Underneath, it was clear the noise was coming from the oil pan, so I turned it off, cleaned the years of GUNK off the bottom of the pan, and it was clear what the issue is. The tip of the pan is caved in about 1/4" - 1/2". There is even a little divot where the crank deflected the pan away. Awesome. Just. Awesome. And 100% my bad.

SO UPSET RIGHT NOW. What are the chances the fall plus less than 60 total seconds of running damaged the crank in permanent sort of way? I ran it for maybe 10-15 seconds three times - not long at all.

The oil pan looks pretty flimsy - hopefully flimsier than the crank? Obviously it was still running, so that's a good sign. Anyone have any guesses before I order a new pan and tear it down. Again.

 

I woudlnt worry too much about the rotating assembly personally. I'd get that oil out of there and replace the pan though. It's just digging outmetal and circulating it through your bearings.

 

It is probably just the oil pan, cranks are SOOO strong, at most you might've just scrapped the end caps of a couple pistons, or the counterweights. Will have to worry about metal shaving from the oil pan too...
Pull the oil pan and see! Either way it is going to have to be fixed or replaced now.
Sorry to hear about the jackstands, I bought my car recently and it looks like some idiot tried lifting it BY the floorpan. Still looking for a good jacking point / jackstand point lmfao.

 

Thanks for the encouragement... I got my order in for a new pan and Permadry gasket (I love those things). Guess I'll push it to the back of the driveway and wait for that stuff to show up next week sometime. I'm a little worried about getting the exhaust crossover off - probably should start soaking it in PB Blaster now.