boned up tapping oil pan, sorta. PS bracket interfering
 

Pictures may tell the story better, but basically, I am tapping pan for a 1/2NPT bung, for a slip on drain. There wasn't a lot of room to work with and I had to get real macguyver to get the various drill bits and the tap in there around PS lines, etc. When I finally got done I found that I was just a little bit to high - the bung is going to screw in, but the top of the barb is in full contact with the power steering pump. Options, so far as I can see:

1. Take the bracket off and cut the offending piece of the bracket off
2. grind a groove into the bracket so that the drain line can slip on
3. source a manual steering rack, delete the power steering and the bracket along with it
4. forget the slip on drain and see if I can get a 1/2 NPT to AN angled adapter, and go stainless on the drain...if that would fit

there is always the possibility that if I screw it in all the way, there will be more clearance, but I can't be sure.
thoughts?
lemme get this out of the way:
I'm dumb. Fully aware.

Grind the bracket. It's over designed as far as I can see (just put P/S on my car).
Just don't cut all the way through it.

Angled fitting might be easier if you can find one.


Edit: isn't that the A/C pump? I thought the P/S pump was on top.

I dunno dude,options 1 & 2 seem about the same.

It seems like the only way to angle it would be down but I don't think you want to do that. You need gravity to drain your oil. If you angle it down,oil may pool up in your drain and cause problems.

#3 depends on how much you would miss your power steering.

I would just grind enough of a radius in the bracket to clear a hose and clamp. But thats just me. Mabey somebody will chime in with a better idea.

I'm pretty sure that is not PS related?

Yea,that should be the a/c. What was I thinking?

By the way,if you put it any deeper you might hit the oil pump pickup. That could be bad.

remove the ac. problem solved.

yeah, you guys are right, that is the ac pump - I have no problem deleting that. Never use it. Do I need an idler pully in order to retain PS though?

As to depth, if I stick my finger in there i can feel the pickup, I didn't damage it (phew) and there is a decent amount of distance to it, though I should probably lop off half my threads with a cutoff wheel to be sure.

Cool! I've heard of people drilling right into them.

answered my own question - you can get a typical PS, no ac belt from mazda/advance/whoever and it works. Sweet. minus 35lbs and no more worries. Phew! Thanks guys!

I can't live without my a/c...I'm too old for that crap. I need cold air blowing on my old man nuts!

I had a similar issue. I removed the a/c compressor bracket, attached installed the oil drain line, then reinstalled the bracket.

The difference was I have a pipe fitting then a barbed fitting then the hose. I couldn't tighten the barbed fitting onto the pipe fitting because the corner of the "nut" would strike the comp bracket.

I'd just grind the bracket away. I was really close to not being able to fit the hose on mine as well.

if you do delete it, the p/s has the tensioner so it's all you need.