dry sump 429/460

[keane]

Hi again, looking at the ground clearance on my Dax which is not much considering the underslung pipes, I was wondering about the question of reducing the sump depth, and maybe even depending on feedback, trying to utilise a dry sump? is this feasible with this lump? there is probably enough room in the bay,any feedback gratefully received. thanks Dave Keane

[cobrashoch]

Dave - If it's a simple Oil pan clearance problem your facing, a custom low sump pan can be made by Armondo, Stefs, Avalon or others. The low point on my cars underside is the trannys bellhousing using a custom Stefs pan. A acusump type oil recovery system is very recomended going this way.
If it's horspower gains your looking for, a topside engine vacuum system will get you to dry sump territory net power gains, with the fore mentioned pans.
If you are going to toss your car around really really hard, there is no substutute for a dry sump,,,,,,,,, PERIOD! They are a bit expensive though. Be forwarned there is different types of dry sump systems out there. Some better than others and some for specialized apps. like in boats and for tractor pullers.
Good luck!
cobrashock

[RICK LAKE]

Keane Dave Cobrashoch is pretty close on what set for your car. He left out Canton pans with crank scraper. What are you going to do with the car? Roadracing,1/4 mile drags, Autocross, Street car, Show and shine? You will need a vaccum pump if you go dry sump, plus seperation tank and hoses. Aviaid make a complete set for and 429/460 motor. You can e-mail them at www.aviaid.com You will have info in a day or 2. I am going dry sump on my next motor. I autocross and like road racing. If you get a good pan and 3 quart acusump you may not want to spend 3 grand for this option. A 9 quart oilpan and 3 quart acusump may be all you need. You can also use the acusump as a preoiler before you start the motor. Stops dry starts. Saves bearings. You might want to buy a better oil pump. Titan uses a georotor gear instead of spur gears. The inlet to the pump is twice the size of any other oil pump and has a regulator for pressure control on it. Something to look into. Good luck Rick Lake

[keane]

Ron/Rick, thanks for the feedback, the car is only going to be used primarily on the road, and therefore the main focus is on gaining extra ground clearance. My mate has the 429 with a tremec and his lowpoint is the B/h, my own tranny is a c6 currently, but will probably change to a big spline toploader in the future, I will have a look at the options and will post some more info/pictures at a later stage. Regards Dave

[RICK LAKE]

Keane Dave go with a canton T-pan and scrapper I think you will be happy with it and get an acusump for the extra oil. The t-pan has the same depth as a stock one, but check. Rick Lake

[cobrashoch]

Rick - I left out the crank scrapper and a screen type windage tray because a crank scrapper and windage tray both work best when custom made to your engine. Not a terribly hard thing to do yourself for a weekend project. As for the Canton pan it's o.k. I guess but I have heard of a few guys having bad welds on them, and one guy here locally can't seem to get rid of(or even find)a leak that comes and go's on his 385 Thunderbolt. I would also bet you 25 cents that a custom pan can be built for the about same money or thereabouts.
For those guys thinking about going the custom pan way don't forget to have a couple extra bungs welded in, for those future projects that seem to just "happen" on Cobras.
cobrashock

[djseed]

After checking out many options I bought the Canton Marine big block pan. This has 9 qts with the filter. There is no cross member on my SPF to interfere with the oil pan. This ment I did not need the front sump pan which is designed for Mustangs etc to clear the front cross member. The marine pan is basically flat with a slight slope to the rear. It runs a custom bolt-on center pickup. The pickup is enclosed in 2 full width trap doors to keep the oil in the center of the pan. The engine builder indexed the pickup to 3/8" from the bottom of the pan and then bollted it to on to one of the 4 bolt main caps. This pan has slightly less depth than the Road Race pan (3/4" I believe). The pan is also made of slightly thicker metal to resist rock hits. I did not go with an aluminum pan because of the potential breakage issue. I added the windage tray and the custom ARP studs on the mains on which to mount the tray. Cobrashoch is correct about the bellhousing being the lowest point. I used the Lakewood bellhousing and trimmed it off to give more ground clearance. The final parts for the oiling system included the Canton 215 degree Oil Thermostat and the Canton 3 Qt Accusump. I have posted pictures of all the oiling parts and a shot of the actual ground clearance in my gallery.

[keane]

Thanks to all for the feedback/comments etc. Dave Keane