Sumptin’ ‘bout Sumps
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2026 2:07 pm
I really must wind up my suspension a little - I thought to myself in about 2011.
I almost got the C Spanners out before our third run down to CLM, but, predictably, ran out of time.
I’ve been through a few sumps over the years. Some just dented, but a couple, including the current one, actually holed. Well, this one has a small, hairline split near the drain plug, but that’s just splitting (sumps) hairs.
Mostly the culprits are speed-bumps (the French ones can be particularly unforgiving, as can their car-park ramps), and my own driveway. I did once hit a largeish rock on the carriageway. That hole was bodged with JB Weld and a coating of Hammerite over the repair. It was oil-tight, though.
This incident led to the Winged Sump Project.
viewtopic.php?t=306
It was fitted to my car, but some loose blast media inside the sump (probably encapsulated within the powder-coating) wrecked the oil pump. I had the engine refreshed and new cam fitted at the same time. There was no discernible damage to the bores etc, but I replaced the winged sump with a standard item. They are relatively cheap, easy to fit, and protect the engine backplate if you ride over a speed bump, rather than hitting the exposed backplate with the winged version.
I have a motley collection of sumps, but thought that it may be worthwhile pointing out that earlier sumps are subtly different from the later (1275) models. You may have heard of the thin and thick flange blocks. In this case, the 1098 sump flanges are a little narrower than the 1275 sump in a couple of places, and the 1098 sump has a bead running on the top surface. 1098 bearings a apparently smaller than the 1275 ones, too. I’ve not checked that.
Here is a good thread from the MMOC regarding sump seals.
https://board.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 54801a5ce3
Finally, as a pic is worth a thousand words, here’s a few:
Cheers
I almost got the C Spanners out before our third run down to CLM, but, predictably, ran out of time.
I’ve been through a few sumps over the years. Some just dented, but a couple, including the current one, actually holed. Well, this one has a small, hairline split near the drain plug, but that’s just splitting (sumps) hairs.
Mostly the culprits are speed-bumps (the French ones can be particularly unforgiving, as can their car-park ramps), and my own driveway. I did once hit a largeish rock on the carriageway. That hole was bodged with JB Weld and a coating of Hammerite over the repair. It was oil-tight, though.
This incident led to the Winged Sump Project.
viewtopic.php?t=306
It was fitted to my car, but some loose blast media inside the sump (probably encapsulated within the powder-coating) wrecked the oil pump. I had the engine refreshed and new cam fitted at the same time. There was no discernible damage to the bores etc, but I replaced the winged sump with a standard item. They are relatively cheap, easy to fit, and protect the engine backplate if you ride over a speed bump, rather than hitting the exposed backplate with the winged version.
I have a motley collection of sumps, but thought that it may be worthwhile pointing out that earlier sumps are subtly different from the later (1275) models. You may have heard of the thin and thick flange blocks. In this case, the 1098 sump flanges are a little narrower than the 1275 sump in a couple of places, and the 1098 sump has a bead running on the top surface. 1098 bearings a apparently smaller than the 1275 ones, too. I’ve not checked that.
Here is a good thread from the MMOC regarding sump seals.
https://board.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php ... 54801a5ce3
Finally, as a pic is worth a thousand words, here’s a few:
Cheers