Ok so it's been a while since this post but Im getting ready to fix the problem and I thought of a 3rd option. What if I took an old truck pan with the dipstick tube in it, cut out the section with the tube and welded it into the car pan. I could have that done and painted in like 20 mins. Anyone see a problem with that idea?
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/scamp_of_doom_73/album/576460762331505642/photo/294928803458021654/37