Rear Main Oil Leak – Diaper Fix

Healeys, as well as most other British cars of the period, like to leave their mark! That is, one can expect oil leaks on their garage floor or driveway. When I rebuilt my engine ten plus years ago, I installed an improved rear main seal designed and sold by Dennis Welch Motorsports. Disappointingly, it failed to correct the oil leak problem, although to be fair, it might be worse had I not made the modification.

If you can’t get rid of a leak, then perhaps you can at least do something to keep the leak from hitting the floor. Jim Shope came up with a plan for a little drain pan that basically serves as a diaper for the Healey. The pan catches the slow drips, and every month or so the pan can be wiped out. The following images illustrate the template and measurement for making the drain pan – thanks, Jim!

The Template is 9″ x 7.5″. I used aluminum but steel sheet could also be used. After making the cuts with some tin snips and drilling the two holes, I used a small sheet metal brake to form the box. I then used JB Weld to seal the edges of the box.

Oil Drip Pan Template

Oil Drip Pan Template Mounting Hole Dimensions

Oil Drip Pan Cut Out Ready for Bending

I used some engine green spray paint available from Moss Motors to paint my little diaper. I plan to use a small piece of Pig Mat (Oil absorbent pad) in the pan to collect the oil. Hopefully, I can then just switch out the the dirty pad for a clean one without having to remove the pan. We will see.

Oil Drip Pan Painted and Installed

Main Seal Diaper in place