'92 Jeep Cherokee Oil Pan on '80 Concord

[Tony and Nicki]

Hi guys,

As some of you may know I'm installing a '77 jeep 258 engine into our '80 Concord. Now as it happens when the Concord engine threw a rod it punched a pretty big hole, as it turns out, in the upper front part of the pan. I was hoping I could patch it but part of the damage is on the lip and it's a pretty good size hole.

Anyway I've been told a '92 jeep Cherokee Oil Pan will fit and they are easy to find new so I was thinking of going with that.
My question is: Would I then want a '92 cherokee oil pump and pick up tube/screen? It looks like the cherokee pan is a little deeper so presumably I'd need a longer pick up tube.

I was also concerned that the Cherokee oil pump distributor drive might not be the same length or whatever. Looks like the mounting holes and everything would be OK though.

BTW when I looked up the '92 cherokee oil pan on the Dorman site it listed: 1999-87 Wagoneer, Comanche, Cherokee, Wrangler, Grand Cherokee L6, 4.0L (242 CID), w/o Sensor Hole Dorman 264220 as all having the same Oil Pan.

As always, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
tony and nicki
tucson AZ

[IowaEagle]

If it will work I would think you would need to swap over the oil pump, tube and screen.

[amcinstaller]

i havent tried it yet myself, but from what im seeing, im not thinking itll work. i have been tempted to give it a shot though. heres a comparison side by side, 80 spirit pan in front:



and pumps and pickups, spirit on right




pumps are not the same but will interchange, pickup needs to match the pan, make sure theres no leakage between the pickup and pump or you will have aerated or no oil into the engine

[Tony and Nicki]

Ok thanks very much,

I see what you mean. Looks like the 'Cherokee' pan might not quite clear the cross member where it starts to slope down to the sump area. The Spirit pan has a shallower angle. The 'cherokee' pan is also much deeper so I see why you'd need a tube to match. Great post thanks!.

I guess I'll need to re-think this one .

Cheers!
Tony and Nicki
Tucson AZ

[amcinstaller]

yea that pan is even from the 92 4.0 jeep cherokee like you had mentioned. however, i believe all 2wd small bodies (gremlin, spirit, concord, and maybe others) with a 258 and possibly a 232 should fit your car.

[IowaEagle]

I forgot this is a Concord.  As said, many years I-6 pans from AMC cars should fit just fine.

[Tony and Nicki]

I found this '70 '80 AMC oil pan on e bay a while ago and it's still up there:


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/70-80-258-4-2-Amc-Oil-Pan-/400152225957?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item5d2aee68a5#ht_500wt_749

It's pretty much the only one I've seen since I've been looking. Unfortunately this guy is not set up to receive questions but it looks pretty much like Concord's pan.
I haven't tried any of the local boneyards and I'm not sure I would want to that route anyway. The thought of pulling a pan in a dusty junkyard, especially now it's already in the high 80's here, is not too appealing not to mention time consuming.

Below is my Concord pan. You can see the hole at the upper front of the pan is pretty big. I toyed with the idea of repairing it with fibre glass/cloth but I'm not sure I'd be able to guarantee it's reliability !




Cheers!
Tony and Nicki

[mudkicker715]

Have it welded. That's not to horrible to not reuse

[shanebo]

Just be carefull...If it does fit it will be alot closer to the pavement

[Tony and Nicki]

It's not just the the hole in the side I'm concerned about but the 'lip' is biffed in and torn also:




But hey, if welding is a possibility I'm all for it.

And yeah, you're right shanebo I did think about the Cherokee pan being lower to the ground and I do sometimes go down dirt roads when camping

[mudkicker715]

A good metal worker can work that out. But now I would say get an estimate as it could be time costly for him to do it

[Tony and Nicki]

Thanks mudkicker,

I'll keep your advise in mind.

Still not sure which way to go with this but I'm kinda leaning towards just getting another pan. The one I've been keeping an eye on on ebay is $70 inc shipping.
I reckon it might take a good metal worker at least an hour to fix my pan so it might cost just as much to go that route and the pan is not in that great shape overall being as it's dented also.

Cheers!
tony and nicki

[thereverendbill]

you might be able to make the cherokee oil pan work with some creative hammering, but I would make a skidpan for the pan because it will sit lower to the ground

[Tony and Nicki]

Thanks reverendbill,

True I hadn't thought of that. For all I know it might actually fit anyway or be pretty darn close. Sure looks that way from the pics.
I'll let you all know what I decide. Thanks for all your help everyone!.

Cheers!
tony and nicki

[IowaEagle]

IIRC if you use the Jeep pan you need to add an extra quart.