Oil Pan size??

[Fred Hamilton]

I requested to my builder to install a Canton 7qt oil pan on my FE motor, well I got the 7qt but its not the Canton T-pan. With this deep pan I only have 2" ground clearance. I already know I can't live with this. Im asking myself if I really need this additional oil cap. I have the 3qt Accusump,Dual oil filters, Oil cooler, Oil thermostat and yards of oil lines. Hight Vol oil pump and the motor has had all the oil gallies reamed. Is it possible the HV pump will pump the oil out faster than it can drain back to the pump.

[Brent Mills]

Fred, as you know, I'm not the expert here, but....As I understand it, and have read many times, that with HV pumps, you can easily starve the pan if there's not ample oil there. You probably wouldn't have much of a problem given the accusump, but I don't think you necessarily want to rely on that unless in dire situations. It would seem that the other factors like lots of oil in lines, filters, cooler, etc, wouldn't have much benefit for oil starvation, as the pump is at the motor, and any air that hits the line will cause pressure loss. Given the way you drive, you'll likely be seeing higher rpm's and I would guess that could be a problem with smaller pan.

I have a canton pan, and I don't think it's much deeper than a stock pan, so you'll be ok with clearance, plus have the benefits of oil control in corners, braking, and acceleration. On the other hand, if you're like me, you've made many promises to the wife not to spend more money.

Can't wait to hear/see your new motor man! By the way, which cam did you go with? I'm going pretty mild this time around...

[Bud Man]

Fred:

A little late, but I would recommend a 9 quart pan for your FE from Armandos. Though high capacity, very shallow profile for maximum ground clearance and the workmanship is superb. It is an exact copy of the Aviaid, but employs front and rear oil baffles as well as side baffles...very nice.

My .02 cents worth.

Bud

[SCOBRAC]

2" on a T pan? Whoa. It seems pretty low... I'm not sure an Aviaid or Armando pan will get you any more clearance. Both measure 6" off the pan rail for nearly the whole distance to the back of the engine and while I am not sure about Armando, Aviaid offers 9.5 quarts in the pan. Both are fully baffeled. Aviaid picks up in the center of the pan and comes with a 5/8" pick up tube and a windage tray, hence the increased cost. Gessford Machine was offering them on sale. I think I paid $595 for mine which included blocking the return lines (ala the GT cars) and shipping to California.

[6T5 Cbra]

Probably a lot late but my vote is for the Aviaid. As ScoBrac mentioned, it's a center pickup - 9.5 qt pan - fully baffled, but is a full 6" in height so ground clearance may be an issue. With this pan I have around 3.5" on my EM. Just have to use a bit of caution around the bumps.







Gene

[concobra]

Mr. Hamilton

About 15 years ago we took a stock FE street pan with a 5 qt capacity attached a clear hose to the bottom then fixed it against the side of the pan so it pointed straight up. The engine had a Melling high volume pump in it. Then we put the motor on the dyno and ran it up to 5000 RPM. It took around 28 seconds for the oil height to stabilize at less than 3/4" in the pan. Not nearly enough to sustain safe engine operation in any conditions. especially not around "G" loaded corners. We then installed a high capacity,deep, pan. A Milodon if memory serves correct. Did the same test. The oil height stabilized at 3". I don't remember if we restricted oil to the valve train but I know it had a juice cam in it. Anyway, the bottom line from what we gathered is don't run a high volume pump unless you have the oil capacity to match.

I hope this helps.

[427 S/O]

Good deal Concobra, it's that kind of curiosity and testing that answers questions we have all had at one time or another.

[Bob Putnam]

ConCobra's experiment was a good one. Almost all the oil is "lost" in the valve cover area, so the amount collected is very dependant on the oil temperature. Cold, thick oil doesn't return very fast through small drainback holes, so starvation is more likely with a cold engine.

ConCobra - Do you remember the oil temperature when you did the experiment?

[Fred Hamilton]

I went and took the deep sump off and installed a Canton 7 QT T-pan. I only lost a quart of oil cap. but gained 2" of ground clearance. I think I have the best of both now.
Thanks for all the info.