one finger john
Active Member
Ted, did you run kick outs on those shortened pans?
low motor oilpan
- Thread starter "The Bat" out of hell
- Start date
Ted Brown
Member
I never found a need for more oil...
Mike
Well-Known Member
Bat, did you ever come up with a pan you could use?
People think they need bigger oil pumps, when the standard pump works great. Put in a big pump and then you have to increase oil capacity or risk pumping the pan dry. Put on a deep pan and then you risk lubricating the street at every bump you hit.
A rather well-known Comp Eliminator racer started playing with oil levels in his race motors, several years back, and found there was horsepressure to be found in reducing the levels. Drastically reducing them. The outer limits he reached amounted to shutting off all the oil to everything but the crank. He would pack the lifters, valve springs and rockers with grease, to keep them alive. And he managed to get down to 1.5 (one and one-half) quarts of oil. We're talking about a SBC that was twisting in excess of 9500 RPM at the finish line, running with 1.5 quarts of oil. Setting national records, winning races and generally terrorizing everyone else in the class. Anything less than 1.5 quarts and you needed a broom and a dustpan to sweep up the bottom end.
That led to the theory of reducing oil flow to the top end, which worked for a little while, until people started seeing valve springs need lots of oil to remain cool. I know one Pro Stock engine builder who closed off all the drain holes in the heads, inserted petcocks on the outer corners of the heads and sealed the valve covers to the heads. He could them fill the rocker boxes with oil and shut off oil flow to the heads and reduce oil level in the pan. It worked, but created a Hell of a mess when it came time to do valvetrain maintenance, as there was no way to get all the oil drained out of the rocker boxes. Today, people just spend a bit of time opening up oil return holes and polishing them to promote oil flow. Let the oil flow, but get it back into the pan as quickly as possible and rely on improved scrapers, windage trays, baffles, gates and trap doors in the pan to control the oil.
So, tell me again why anyone needs those deep oil pans?
The stock Chevrolet oiling system is a pretty amazing thing, straight out of the tin. The only, real shortcoming it has is its ability to drain upper end oil back to the pan in rapid fashion.
People think they need bigger oil pumps, when the standard pump works great. Put in a big pump and then you have to increase oil capacity or risk pumping the pan dry. Put on a deep pan and then you risk lubricating the street at every bump you hit.
A rather well-known Comp Eliminator racer started playing with oil levels in his race motors, several years back, and found there was horsepressure to be found in reducing the levels. Drastically reducing them. The outer limits he reached amounted to shutting off all the oil to everything but the crank. He would pack the lifters, valve springs and rockers with grease, to keep them alive. And he managed to get down to 1.5 (one and one-half) quarts of oil. We're talking about a SBC that was twisting in excess of 9500 RPM at the finish line, running with 1.5 quarts of oil. Setting national records, winning races and generally terrorizing everyone else in the class. Anything less than 1.5 quarts and you needed a broom and a dustpan to sweep up the bottom end.
That led to the theory of reducing oil flow to the top end, which worked for a little while, until people started seeing valve springs need lots of oil to remain cool. I know one Pro Stock engine builder who closed off all the drain holes in the heads, inserted petcocks on the outer corners of the heads and sealed the valve covers to the heads. He could them fill the rocker boxes with oil and shut off oil flow to the heads and reduce oil level in the pan. It worked, but created a Hell of a mess when it came time to do valvetrain maintenance, as there was no way to get all the oil drained out of the rocker boxes. Today, people just spend a bit of time opening up oil return holes and polishing them to promote oil flow. Let the oil flow, but get it back into the pan as quickly as possible and rely on improved scrapers, windage trays, baffles, gates and trap doors in the pan to control the oil.
So, tell me again why anyone needs those deep oil pans?
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