Oil Pan cracked at oil plug - follow up

[Ped]

I have made a temporary fix that I'm convinced will hold. A motorcycle 
mechanic gave me the advice to use Loctite 542 on the oil plug and 
chemical metal (Plastic Padding) on the outside of the crack. Since the 
length of the crack is just the length of the bolt thread chances are 
that the crack will be well sealed on the inside by the Loctite on the 
oil plug.  According to the data sheet Loctite 542 has medium strength, 
so it should be fairly easy to remove the oil plug at the next oil 
change. On the outside I have grinded the area around the crack using 
sandpaper and applied a thin layer of chemical metal.

Today I made a 400 km (215 miles) test ride, and there was absolutely no 
trace of oil on the fix. So, being confident that the fix will hold I'm 
taking off for Luxembourg on Sunday morning and next Friday further on 
to some place east of München (Munich) for the GPZ meeting. I'll post 
some pictures from the meeting when I get back.

@Steve: Thanks for the advice and a good laugh - I really needed it that 
day! However, the fix is so tight that no diaper or MaxiPads are 
required :-)

@Dave: Thanks for your offer about the oil pan. I've looked at the 
German and UK ebay and found that getting one here in Europe is not 
going to be a problem. I think I'd prefer getting one that doesn't 
require any mod's. Thanks again for your offer.

@Chuck: Thanks for checking ebay for me and your proposal. I'll keep 
that in mind if I need something I can't get over here.

@Richie: Thanks for your suggestion - I'll keep it in mind.

@Alex: I must have missed something there. Has George changed bike - 
unwillingly? If there is an oil pan with healthy threads where the oil 
plugs go for sale, then I'm a buyer.

Ped
'96 "Black Stealth" GPZ
Denmark

>
>
> */Ped <pedmail at dbmail.dk>/* wrote:
>
>     I got myself a huge problem today: While doing the oil change I
>     (probably) over tightened the lower oil plug,
>
>     http://www.pedmail.dk/olieprop.jpg
>
>     (the most left one of the two marked A)
>
>     - resulting in a crack in the metal where the bolt is mounted. The
>     crack
>     is tiny and barely visible, but big enough to leak oil. It has the
>     length of the bolt thread.
>
>     Of course the right solution is to go and get another oil pan.
>     Although
>     there is a considerable amount of dismantling to do it can
>     actually be
>     replaced without taking the engine out of the frame, according to the
>     manual. However, it is highly unlikely that a new oil pan should
>     be in
>     stock here in DK, and in the week ahead I simply don't have the
>     time to
>     do a repair of this magnitude. So it's going to be a winter project.
>     Now, on next Sunday I'm going on an 860 km (460 miles) trip to
>     Luxembourg, and a week later I'm going to attend the 2.
>     Alpentreffen (a
>     GPZ 1100 meeting) in Bavaria, Germany, also some 400 miles away. Is
>     there a temporary fix to this crack/oil leak that I can rely on
>     with a
>     fair amount of confidence? I am not going to set off on a trip of
>     that
>     length to foreign countries without a strong belief that the fix is
>     going to hold. Could the crack be welded? Or could something as
>     simple
>     as Loctite do the trick? Any tip, trick or comment highly
>     appreciated -
>     thanks in advance!
>
>     Ped
>     '96 "Black Stealth" GPZ
>     Denmark
>
>