I'm building a 455 for my '66 Skylark. Its going to be mostly a straight line car but I might like to auto cross it a few times as well. Does anyone have any input or pictures of an oil pan modified for this kind of use? I have 2 pans and a mig welder so I was hoping to fab something up myself (full resto, running out of money). Please help to get my car done for Salem.
Hey Mike,I sent a thread in a couple of days ago about the oil pan mods but havent got any response yet,I know there are some mods out there I just cant remeber what they were.Good luck maybe some body out there will help us out. Bryan Fant
Bryan, Yeh, I did a search on this as well but came up blank. Surely someone has some info on this. Someone...anyone...hello?
Jan '04 Car Craft magazine has an article driveway testing a stock oil pan and a Moroso road race pan w/ kick-outs, trap doors, and baffles. It was for a SBC, but Moroso also sells a kit that can be welded on any pan. It should be good for up to 1G of conering loads, about the max a street car can generate. I don't know how much it costs, or the cost to weld it together - or if it even fits a Buick, for that matter. I'd be interested to find out. Anyone tried that Moroso kit?
Moroso oil pan kit I used the Moroso kit on my '70 Skylark 350 road race car very succesfully. I built it to be the same depth as the bottom of the crossmember. It cured the oil starvation problem I was having in the turns. I welded tabs on the oil pickup screen and short 1/4" bolts to the inside of the pan to secure the pickup about 1/4" off the pan bottom. I cut the pickup tube in half and attached the two with stainless braided hose with hose clamps secured as the pan went on. I'm currently collecting parts to build a 464 stage 2, so I don't need this pan any more if anyone want's it. It's nickle plated and does make for a tight fit at engine installation time.
That's good to know, DrBuick - thanks for the feedback. BTW, I checked the price of the Moroso kit yesterday, its $127 at a local speed shop - but keep in mind you have to weld it on yourself, or pay someone to do it. Even so, it seems like a pretty good way of getting a decent street pan that handles approx 1G, is reasonably priced, and has some semblence of ground clearance. Does anyone have any thoughts about windage control? I'd be interested in hearing from people who've tested windage trays, screens , and scrapers. What works, and what is a waste of money?
Geez! I have a Kenne-Bell "Deep Sump" oil pan with the Baffle, and I took it to a local welding shop, along with another "Stock" 455 oil pan. The shop COPIED the Deep Sump pan for $60 (I didn't tell them what "BUICK Deep Sump Oil Pans" are going for!:eek2:! All they did was cut the "lower" part of the "stock" pan off, and added about 2" extra material, and installed the baffle. Remember, if you extend your Pan, you have to extend your Pickup Tube, TOO!:Smarty: So, go to your local welding shop, with your Stock pan, and just GET IT DONE!:Smarty: They should be able to do it FOR you! And it won't cost you "$400" for a "Buick" oil pan!:TU:
I've thought about this one for a while and am considering modifying a stock pan by cutting a 'window' in both the left and right sides of the bottom of the pan, about 1 1/2" tall and the length of the pan, front to back. Then welding my own kick-outs onto the pan to cover these windows. I think this will give me the additional oil volume I am looking for, without a ground clearance problem. What I am leery of is having that much volume (an extra quart or two) sloshing around without some kind of baffling, scraper or other effective windage control. Thoughts anyone?
Here is Moroso's web page with the u-weld-it kit. http://www.moroso.com/catalog/categorydisplay.asp?catcode=11108 OK, it costs more than the $60 spacer job - but it has both kickouts, 6 baffles, and 5 trap doors, and ground clearance is no problem. I doubt that just deepening the stock oil pan can control the oil adequately while cornering or braking at near 1 G. Car Crafts article shows the oil pickup starting to become uncovered when the stock-type deep pan they used was tilted at 45deg to simulate a max cornering situation. And when the pan was tipped forward, to simulate braking, all the oil ran out the front. The road race pan they tested was better. A dry sump would be best, but who can afford that on a street motor?
Like I said, Spend the $60 or whatever it will cost in YOUR area, and just get it done. All the time you DISCUSS it, you could already have it on your engine, within a week! The pan that I've had done is for my STREET car! I will not be "Drag" racing (at a TRACK), and I will not be doing any "autocrossing" (no HARD corners/slalom runs), even though I have the Horsepower to do it! If I DO want to launch HARD, in a straight line, then the Baffle will keep the oil at the REAR of the pan, where the Oil PICKUP TUBE IS! That IS the advantage!:Smarty: I would rather spend $60 or even $100 to have an "improved" STOCK pan, then to spend $200-$400 on a pan that's not "necessary" for a STREET engine!o No: That's just me, though.:Smarty:
Driver, No doubt a deepened pan will help control the oil in drag racing. However, the topic of the thread was about affordable oil pan mods that were suitable for auto-crossing and street G-machines - not drag racing. A stock type pan is just not suitable for cornering or braking forces much above stock. A rear baffle will not prevent the oil from running forward under braking. And deepening the pan, which would be limited if ground clearance is a concern, will not keep the oil from climbing the sides of the pan during cornering . and uncovering the pickup. A properly baffled and trap-doored oil pan is hardly "overkill" on a street car, if that street car has had suspension and brake modifications that allow it to corner substantially better than a stock vehicle or one set up for drag racing. A couple of hundred dollars invested in proper oil control seems like pretty cheap insurance for a couple thousand dollar (and up) motor. Some people lock their garages with a hefty padlock, others use a bent nail. To each his own, I guess. BTW, I've got a BMW 2002tii on which I've installed a baffled pan, oil cooler and accumulator on the stock 4cyl motor. Its barely adequate oil control, considering the cars been lowered 2 inches, and is running Bilstein shocks , Yokohama tires, and a lot more camber than stock. If you think you "have the HP" to run an autocross, then bring it on.
All good info here. Jim Burek also addressed this in my post "455 assembly tips". Check that out too if you want.
Oil control and windage is at the top of my list for this season. I have used the Speedway weld-on pan kick-out and trap doors grafted to a stock rear sump pan. This is a circle track application so you would need 2 of them, but they are only about $30 each from Speedway. My application is a 462 in an IMCA dirt modified so I don't have to worry about crossmembers or headers that go down by the pan because the engine is set back about 24". A mini starter helps too. This has work fairly well for several years. We made our own pickup too. Windage is next on the list, and maybe a belt diven pump. I need info on getting oil back to the pan, restricting oil to the top end, and windage trays. I believe windage and oil control will help with cooling and allow a smaller radiator.
