Question for the FE know it alls

[David Kirkham]

Originally Posted by Dcmgt

David - A number of people I've spoken with who have used the Avaid wet sump pans, including racers back in the day like Sam Feinstein, have said their oil pressure will drop to zero in hard cornering on the track with good tires like slicks. Consider that SA spend resources to develop the dry sump on the 427 cars back in the 60's for a good reason, when they didn't do it for the 289 (at least in the Cobra). There were a number of engine failures early on in the big block Cobra development, to the point where SA was delivering some higher profile track cars with a spare engine (like CSX3009). Granted, there are some other weaknesses in the engine that have tended to be rectified in modern builds, like rod bearing width, but nonetheless the dry sump was a primary development that resulted in problems being minimized and therefore would be a benefit to any of these engines that can suffer from intermittent loss of oil pressure.

Good comment! Certainly worth an answer. Miller Motorsports has 2 of our cars at their track--one with a Ford crate 351 and one with a Keith Craft 427 (stroked to a 482). Both cars have Aviaid pans. The cars are regularly driven (some might say flogged) at rates of speed and cornering I can't begin to acheive and I have a lot of experience (track included) driving these monsters. They have instructors with backgrounds from all levels of racing in their driving school--from former F1 pilots on down. Remember, the driver's don't own their cars and they are always trying to impress customers (and each other) so they don't hold back.

We have never had an oil failure or a failure of the motor for that matter that wasn't our fault. Keith Craft's motor has run for at least 1000 miles on THE TRACK with no mercy--so has the Ford crate motor.

I seriously don't think there are many of us on this site who actually NEED a dry sump on one of these cars. Now, they are undeniably the hottest looking thing on the planet (Pat Buckley's car comes to mind). But unless you are Schumacher, I'd spend my money on suspension tuning.

David