Luckily, this was scheduled maintenance. It turns out the bolt was from the windage tray and had simply fallen out. Due to how hard this Riviera is now accelerating with drag radials, the oil can no longer stay around the oil pickup, and oil pressure plummets when I nail the gas. Time to weld in some baffles and keep the oil where it belongs.
Whew! At least it came from the bottom of the engine and just played there instead of being ingested by and sent through the entire engine wreaking havoc on all your hard work
I've not seen a vintage tray bolt like that in a bbb b4.......but hey it's at the bottom of pan and cant fit through the pick up screen all is good
PM Steve Reynolds and ask him to look at this thread. http://v8buick.com/index.php?members/steve-reynolds.513/
Read through this and wait for Steve, http://v8buick.com/index.php?threads/modifying-my-oil-pan-maybe.355741/
Hi John, Sorry..… been super busy. That looks pretty decent.....just don't get too carried away so that it restricts the oil from getting back to the sump. If it starts to slow down while getting back in the sump it'll just get whipped around from the rotating assembly and wind up not in the sump. Leave some wide gaps on the sides and don't worry about fitting it perfectly to the pan profile. Gaps all around allow better flow to the sump but doesn't hurt the sump containment much. The key is to stop or slow down the main volume of oil in the sump from climbing out under acceleration and deceleration. I think what you have there will work fine. When I finish every pan I build, I leak test them with mineral spirits and while doing that I like to test out different baffle designs by having 5 to 7 quarts in the sump and quickly tip the pan forward and aft to see what the fluid does. By doing this you can pretty much tell how the baffles will function...… at least as far as containing the oil. Drain back is another issue that can't be replicated on the bench, so I always try to think of how easily the oil can get back into the sump. One of the best things you could do is to cut that "rounded" sump off and replace it with a little wider and deeper sump...…. more oil is better and makes it all that much easier to keep the oil pickup covered with oil. (deeper oil pickup required also). Steve
John, I got your message but im at work. What I see so far looks fine....... it'll definitely help, short of installing a new larger sump. Go for it!!!
The baffle is installed, and I wire wheeled the pan after giving it two rounds of degreaser: Very happy with the results all-round