Rick,
Accusump, dry sump and/or a proven road race pan (NOT Canton!).
I've watched my
oil pressure gauge go to zero during a curve more than once and had to back out until it came back up.
My Canton "road race" pan was taken off several times to check the baffle door operation, pickup position and clearance. I finally concluded the pan was not at all effective.
I installed an Accusump (guess who makes it?) and the zero
oil pressure symptoms went away.
Picture this: high G-load, high rpms pushing more than the usual amount of
oil into the valve covers for a time and massive churning of the oil in the pan by the crankshaft in the vicinity of the oil pump pickup. Scary? Yep!
BTW, the crankshaft does tend to also push the oil toward one side of the pan and as far up the block on one side as it can. Crank scrapers are intended to help minimize this, but usually aren't sufficient by themselves.
I've seen small-blocks, big-blocks and mod motors trashed during track days. Most of the time it has been due to oil pressure loss.
Once you realize what's going on inside the oil pan during high rpm, high-G use, you'll wonder how the things survive at all! Kind of a testament to modern oil technology.
Jon Kaase has even had engines lose oil pressure on the dyno due to loss of oil pickup - it's a complex and frustrating technical challenge to fix. No easy way has been found.
So get the oil system some help and you won't regret it. A dry sump setup if your budget will allow; even that is less expensive than new engines..
Hope this helps,
Tom
Hybrid Mode
