Oil Change for the 292 Y Block with a Garvee Low Profile Oil Pan

The overall value of a low profile oil drain pan really surprised me.

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Believe it or not, the website and the YouTube channel has grown so much that just about every other day I get requests from companies to test their products. I guess these days many upstart companies harness the power of social media to get their latest and greatest in front of the populace. Most of the time, the requests are for parts, items, tools, or even tech that I will never use. Even though it is all free to me I skip right by it. Mind you, I do not have the time to go through the paces of testing and reviewing the latest dash camera or a CarPlay panel for a Toyota sedan. One company a few months back actually pestered me to test and review their water treatment equipment. Not quite sure what all that was about.

Last month, a company name Garvee, purveyor of all kinds of products mostly made overseas, asked if I would give their 20 gallon low profile oil drain pan a whirl. When I checked it out online, I thought to myself, "Why not?" I need to change the oil in the old Ford pretty soon anyway.

The picture above is a variant of the model shipped to me and now available online.

The box showed up on my doorstep with the unit unassembled. While the video at the end of this article does a thorough job in showing the pros and cons of assembly and a good review on what it's like to use such a tool, here are the highlights.

Pros

The overall design is quite rugged and includes a well built cast iron pump. It is a nice feature to have an electric pump that simply pulls all the fluids out of the pan making it a no-fuss/no-muss proposition when emptying the huge reservoir.

The casters are extremely well made and lockable. I really believe the casters are overbuilt for the quality of the unit shipped, but it really made the movement of pan across concrete and asphalt as smooth as silk.

I really like the size and design of the lid screen. It made "dropping" the oil pan plug pretty trouble-free because the screen obviously keeps the plug from dropping into the reservoir. Ditto for the oil filter. That screen makes draining the filter a breeze. In addition, the size of the drain pan caught all of the oil draining from both the oil pan and the oil filter plate on the block.

Cons

At it is with much of the equipment made overseas, the instructions were a bit wonky. I made a mistake in following the orientation of components as shown in the diagram; ended up mounting the oil pump backwards with the way the mounting bracket was depicted. That was an easy fix, but still a hassle.

While the mounting hardware was sufficient, I did not care for the mounting screws for the cast iron pump. Nothing like trying to torque down a machine screw that has a phillips head. Those things can be difficult to tighten when the other end is a nut and you have a wrench on it. The screws fit just fine and certainly hold the pump well; my belief is that they should have a hex head or even a hex socket.

The long hose (roughly 8 feet) and the power cord for the cast iron pump made for cumbersome means of travel across the floor. There is a hook on the handle, but I did not really like the way the T bar handle only had one hook. I will end up making a strap for the cord and a more ample means of storing the hose so that these things are not in the way when not in use.

Storage will be a bit of a hassle. While this is technicallly not a con - you want a 20 gallon pan then that has to take up some room - for where I have landed for the time being things are pretty tight, and all floor space is at a premium. Plus, with the way the T bar handle is made, the unit cannot fold flat and roll under a shelf or workbench easily. You can see from the photo above that the handle does not tilt back that far. However, when sliding the pan under the car, the handle will pivot completely forward making clearance quite easy to achieve.

The unit is for sale at this link: https://bit.ly/4z8vkBm?utm_source=chatgpt.com

If you use my coupon code HOT10 then you will get an additonal 10% off the price shown. Keep in mind I do make a very small percentage from each sale made using the link I have provided. All proceeds go to support the website and keep things going.

If you are interested in knowing any recommendations I would have on oil for the Y Block then visit this article I wrote somtime back: https://www.hotrodreverend.com/post/which-oil-is-best-for-the-y-block-ford-engine

https://youtu.be/ROxDXY9gP3U

The Hot Rod Reverend

aka Daniel Jessup