Anyone cut and shut an alloy oil pan?

[Zedn]

I need to shorten my oil pan for ground clearance. I have mounted the engine quite low to keep the CG down. I know that i can get a corvette C6 oil pan that will fit well, but i havnt found it under $500 by the time you pay postage.

Was wondering if anyone has modified an LS or similar alloy oil pan. I have no probs with alloy welding, but oil in the alloy is a concern since the motor has had oil in it already.

Anyone got any experience or thoughts?

Cheers.

[750hp]

Not a sump, but I had a cast alloy SVO rocker cover modified/welded for clearance. It had been used, and there wasn't any issue with oil in the alloy.

[400TT]

Always one to want to optimise the engine location/height, we always recommend going with a slim sump.

We have not had any problems welding any of the used alloy sumps.

Considering you also need to mod the pickup and dip stick...

Have you compared the changeover price if you sell off the standard sump. We haven't had any issues re-selling the stock height Commodore sumps, but they were essentially new.

I know paying my guys to do it, it wouldn't be worth it. But since you are doing it yourself, it could be worth the punt.

Do you have the height of the slim sump?

[Mrs flatchat]

I have a corvette "winged" sump pan --off an ls6 --- open to silly offers

[Zedn]

I have thought about selling the standard LS3 pan but wasnt sure what sort of market there is for them. It is not brand new, but has never been used. My LS3 is one of the crate motors that HSV removed to make way for the W427 models. I think they drove them off the production line and then swapped in the 427.

The C6 Corvette sump is 5" deep with the P48 filter. This is more than i need. Attached photo shows how much it hangs down with the 7" LS3 sump.


I was hoping that i could get away with choping an inch out and welding the bottom back on. Like this:


I would need to add a bit of alloy to the back but shouldnt be too much drama.

Do you know how close the LS3 pickup sits to the bottom? I can always buy the vette LS2 pickup if i cant make it work. They are only about $40 plus postage. Seems crazy to spend 10% of the cost of the motor just on an oil pan.

[Zedn]

Originally Posted by Mrs flatchat

I have a corvette "winged" sump pan --off an ls6 --- open to silly offers

Yikes the bat wing is ugly but very low profile. The specs i find tell me that the wing span is 20.5" is this correct? I wouldnt fit that between my chassis rails otherwise i would take it.

[Tenrocca]

I reckon mine hangs that low - I drive like a lunatic and havent whacked it yet. More good luck than good management perhaps.

[mreid]

The modification to the pan is doable and of moderate difficulty. New castings don't suffer the porosity issues of the past. The pickup is your bigger issue. Rather than modifying what you have, it may be easier to find one that fits properly. As you know, both too close and too far from the bottom are issues.

[boxhead]

Mine is the same Andrew, and the roads around Alice are not exactly the smoothest out there.

[Zedn]

Thats the height without the body, interior, radiator etc and the rear is on stands. Front suspension is sitting on the max height stops. Sump clearance is 115mm as it sits, which means at ride height it would be around 80mm.

The chassis in the RCM sits quite low and includes cutouts for the exhaust, i really need the sump close to level with the rails if not slightly higher.

[Aussie Mike]

I've got the LS2 Corvette sump on mine. Well worth the investment. Heaps of ground clearance. In fact It'll let me shave about 10mm off the bottom of the bell housing too next time I pull the gear box.

You don't just gain the clearance with this sump. You also get a labrynth of baffles in there for oil control and the pickup is pretty much central with all the baffles pushing oil towards it.

I'll snap a pic of it on the weekend. The car is on the hoist at the momnent.

Ive seen plenty of pics of welded LS sumps over on LS1Tech.com

Cheers

Michael

[gjkrv8]

Hey Mike- do you use a shorter OIl Filter - I have the standard LS1 sump and filter, but since I put a sandwich plate in for Oil Temp sender my Filter pokes down about 20mm below the sump? My oil filter is stock Z160. Cheers Gregg

[Zedn]

Research the P48 filter its much smaller, but you just need to research if the thread is the same.

[Aussie Mike]

I'm using the standard filter and a really neat MOCAL Oil thermostat oil cooler port setup that has an extra port for the temp sender or oil pressure fitting built in. I'm using it for oil pressure as I machined up an adaptor to put the oil temp sender in the side of the sump where the sump heater used to go. I'm using mechanical guages and the sender is very bulky compared to the electronic and wouldn't fit.



This is with the old Camaro oil pan. I'll post some pics of the new setup on the weekend.

Cheers

[PeterAllen]

Not directly related to your question but here is some general info on LSx oil pan dimensions - LS engine oil pans - all of them - S-10 Forum - It's on a few forums.

I'm not too sure which sump I got (C5 Corvette LS2 IIRC) but it was $250 posted to Oz.

[Aussie Mike]

That last pic you can see all the nice baffling in the LS2 Corvette sump. That's the one I have.

You can also see the sump heater in the side (yellow plastic fitting). That's what I removed to add the temp sender.

Cheers

[Rebel1]

There is also the MAST LS oil pan. A little deeper than the corvette pan at 5.75" but not as deep as aussie pans.

http://www.mastmotorsports.com/2010/..._pan_views.pdf

Bit bluddy expensive tho.

[Rebel1]

Holly also do one similar to the mast oil pan but has the advantage of bolting to the bell housing which the mast doesn't do.

http://www.holley.com/data/products/...dimensions.jpg

[Zedn]

Originally Posted by PeterAllen

Not directly related to your question but here is some general info on LSx oil pan dimensions - LS engine oil pans - all of them - S-10 Forum - It's on a few forums.

I'm not too sure which sump I got (C5 Corvette LS2 IIRC) but it was $250 posted to Oz.

Looks like the F body pan. Is the bottom of the bell housing lower than the sump? I think the C6 sits higher than the bellhousing as Mike is saying.

I spoke to a friend of mine today who does custom stainless and alloy work and he said he will do the welding for me which means it will better than mine. I am going to clean, cut and prepare and he will do the welding.

Im pretty sure from the reading i have done that it will be fine. Its actually quite common with certain conversions. The pickup and mount can be modified to suit and i will just ensure that it has the same clearance. Change in oil capacity shouldnt be a problem if i adjust the dipstick to be a little higher.

I will post up some picks when done.

[Zedn]

Originally Posted by Rebel1

Holly also do one similar to the mast oil pan but has the advantage of bolting to the bell housing which the mast doesn't do.

http://www.holley.com/data/products/...dimensions.jpg

The mast one looks nice, but would be about $650 by the time you get it here.

There are several aftermaket, but they are all pretty expensive. Especially the ones that require remote oil filters.