# howto: taping block for turbo oil drain on 12v vr6



## dreadlocks (May 24, 2006)

Thanks for the pics on the location, I spent alot of time talking it over with a bunch of people and here is the process that worked for me.. I am sure there are other ways of doing it, but I am writing this up because it does take some balls to drain a big 1/2" hole in your motor and those adventurous as my self might appreciate some insight.
First I am going to outline why it is better to do the block vs the oil pan:
- oil return does not go under the axle, preventing damage from axle.. when lifting vehicle, axles on my car would cause tension on the line.. 
- clear return, under acceleration the oil in your pan is going to migrate to the rear, possibly submerging your return. This cant possibly happen when you tap the block
- If you damage your oil pan, finding a replacement to fix it on side of road would be much easier not having to find someone to weld a bung in.
now why its possibly not better to do the block:
- hose your oil pan tapping it and its much cheaper mistake to fix.
- metal shavings, there are alot of em.. get em up into your crank and your going to be in a world of pain.

Ideally you should do this with the crank & pistons out of the block, I did not have that luxary nor do I think its completely necessary.. Just take your time and be careful and everything will be ok.
Supplies:
- 1/2" NPT Pipe Tap - Got mine from Harbor Freight.
- 23/32 Drill Bit - Hard sucker to track down, eventually got it from Granger as not even snap-on truck had it.
- WD40
- Big Drill (Dewalt Cordless, FTW)
- Big Magnet (one I used is for holding tools to the wall, think I got it from wall-mart)
- 2x1/2" NPT to -10AN Elbows (Checkers)
- 12 inches overall of -10AN steel braided rubber hose rated to 350psi (I have a Kinetic Manifold and full T4) made by local race shop.
- Shop Towels








*the SS line you see pictured is my old one, note the kink caused by the axle sitting on it for 3 months while on jackstands.
First off remove your oil pan, inspect everything and clean it all up.. I stuffed the inside of the motor with clean shop towels sprayed with WD40 like so:








Feel around on the inside and find where you want to start your hole.. there is a ridge you want to steer clear of if you go to high and you want to stay away from the oil housing your right next to.. 
I started out with a much smaller bit, don't recall the size but it does not really matter.. Place your magnet as close to your bit as possible.. here I am starting my hole with the magnet.. notice the shavings would like nothing more than to meet the magnet.. pull your bit out often and the magnet will eat all the shavings off, I wiped down the magnet on a regular basis.








Here is where I stopped with the first bit, just broke through.. 








Then moved on to the big ole 23/32 bit.. 








and then when I finally broke through:
















Here are all the shavings that the magnet ate up.. 








At this point I have changed out the towels on the inside of the motor about 3 times.. I put a new one in and start using the tap.. This is the easy part, spray tap w/WD40 and then start cranking it in.. do about a 1/4 turn then back it up 1/4 to drop the shavings into the tap and repeat, once you have 2-3 full turns pull tap all the way out and clean it off. Do it as deep as you can get the tap in and take care not to hit the crank by going in too deep.









Once your done install your fitting and torque it down nice and tight..








then the rest of your oil return and your done...









or so you think, because I like to over engineer and I HATE leaks I took the extra time to clean everything up nice with rubbing alcohol then using JB Weld and some wooden q-tips I proceeded to go around the entire fitting and the block in hopes of retaining a nice strong permanent seal.. Looks like **** but you cant see any of this stuff when installed so meh..








So there ya go, was pretty simple.. hope its not such a mysterious process now.. good luck and dont **** your **** up and blame it on me.. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 

_Modified by dreadlocks at 9:23 PM 4-4-2008_


_Modified by dreadlocks at 9:13 PM 8-3-2008_


----------



## Patrick Schmidt (Jun 30, 1999)

One way to further insure you don't get shavings in the motor is to grease the tap liberally. You'll be surprised how much stuff it picks up.


----------



## dreadlocks (May 24, 2006)

yea I had the tap dripping with lube ;-)
in the end the tap and bit both had a pretty strong magnetic field of there own


----------



## Issam Abed (Feb 12, 2004)

*Re: (Patrick Schmidt)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Patrick Schmidt* »_One way to further insure you don't get shavings in the motor is to grease the tap liberally. You'll be surprised how much stuff it picks up.

http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Thats one way to get a tap in there.Not going to lie though,I did that once about 7 years ago to an 8V block and cracked the block.


----------



## rhussjr (Aug 7, 2000)

*Re: howto: taping block for turbo oil drain on 12v vr6 (dreadlocks)*

To make cleaning up your magnet easier, use a large zip-lock type back and insert your magnet into the bag. The plastic will act as a barrier between the magnet and the shavings. When you are ready to clean up, hold the bag over the trash can or metal hopper and turn the bag inside out and the shavings will fall away (magnet stays clean). And yes, wheel bearing grease on the tap works well for catching shavings during the tapping process (you can even add a glob on the inside and outside of the block to catch them and simply wipe the glob away once you are done.


----------



## magics5rip (Mar 17, 2004)

*Re: (Wizard-of-OD)*


_Quote, originally posted by *Wizard-of-OD* »_
http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif 
Thats one way to get a tap in there.Not going to lie though,I did that once about 7 years ago to an 8V block and cracked the block.









Yeah, I always considered messing up an oil pan tap to be less of a worry over messing up tapping the block. But good DIY none the less http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


----------



## AlbertoB1 (Dec 29, 2007)

*Re: howto: taping block for turbo oil drain on 12v vr6 (dreadlocks)*

Will this work on 8V G60 engine. I am having problema with my return line from the turbo not returning oil to pan?


----------



## dreadlocks (May 24, 2006)

the methods and tools would be the same, however of course the taping spot wouldn't be the same.. you'd want to pull your oil pan off and pick a suitable spot.


----------

