Briggs FH Oil Pan

Thanks for all the responses on the FH Oil Topic. Now can someone tell me how to get into the FH's Oil pan and see if there is alot of old sludge? Or steer me in the right direction on dis-assembly of this section. Just in the one response about grit and that old sludge made me cringe, and I dont want to fire it up yet with that sludge in there. Again thanks for the answers! This board is the best!!

The 4 bolts that are at each corner of the base of the engine block are what you want to remove to get at the oil trough and gas tank area. Just remove the carb and intake tubes first. If your engine is a kickstart version take all that off the base prior to removing it as it makes life easier.Once off the trough can be removed from the base by prying it off the old gasket. Clean the oil pan well and inspect it for pin holes, if so nows the time to solder them up,or some guys have had much success using epoxy on them. Just remember when reassembling that the plunger ends get located in the pump and also the cam follower or it wont pump oil! I usually do this with the engine upside down as its easier to locate that pin in the pump versus cam follower. Its also a good idea to scrape the rust/varnish out of the gas tank. I usually use acetone or laquer to disolve it then a calcium and rust remover to get any loose rust inside or you could sand blast the inside if you have one.If you have any questions you can email me direct.John.