Jemo

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong or what but I had them notch the pan and modify the pickup tube for a '56 Chevy conversion. I have a GTO LS1 and am putting the pan and tube off a Camaro because I need the rear sump so this pan and tube have never been on the block.

I wrestled with it for 2 hours or so and just could not get the pan on the passenger side to mate with the block. Took some measurements and it looks like the pan is too shallow in the front with the way the pick up tube comes out of the oil pump. BUT this pan and tube came out of a Camaro so why isn't it working now?

Pic of the pan:





Same pic but with measurements:



Side pic of pickup tube and distance:



Depth of pan in front:



Well, am I doing something foolish or do others see a problem, too? How would they fix this, bend the tube more or did they not send me a Camaro pan back?

Jeff

schlosser1

i had some trouble with my tube after i welded it , the metal moves when you weld it so you might have tho tweak the tube a little just dont wreck the o ring oh , and make sure it is in all the way and you dont have two o rings. hope i could help.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

Are you using a F-body windage tray.. ? as they are shorter, it leaves the front two rods exposed.

Jemo

Yeah, thanks. I'm using the f-body tray and it is shorter than the GTO tray. What exactly is done to the tube when it's modded? Is it made longer? Bent differently? The pan is awfully shallow in the front.

DLSNFL

Look at my thread in this forum about low oil pressure.

Yes I too had problems installing the pan. The bottom of the
pan hit the pick up tube before it would mate up with
engine. I had to bend the tube bracket a little, and now
I feel that maybe I pinched the o ring. Anyway quite
a p.i.t.a to deal with now. 4 hours to get all the bolts back
off, and now the Jim Meyer rack & pinion is in the way.
I would think that Street and performance has a jig to weld
these up, but I had zero oil pressure at idle an hope this
is the cure, and that this set up didn't damage the motor.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

I don't have a S&P setup.. but from what I have seen on there web site and video.. they only extend it to match up with the shorter bottom slump. It could be that they tweeked the pickup a bit before they welded the tube back together and it is now either hanging to low or not sitting even to the bottom of the pan. As Stealth stated. you need to verify that the pickup is in the correct position and height from the bottom of the pan.

Many of these problem are why there are many threads about oil problems with the pickup and pan. And reasons not to modify or alter from the GM's Design and engineering of the oil system.

Jemo

Thanks everyone. I called S&P first thing this morning and spoke to Mark and then their tech that has installed several of these. Mark told me first that you don't use the windage tray and that is what is holding it up. He asked if I wanted to speak to his tech guy/installer so I talked to him. Super nice guy......anyways, he said that I DO need the windage tray so I guess I'll leave it alone. He asked me if the bottom of the pickup tube was horizontal or tilted. I told him that it was tilted a bit. He said that's the reason it won't fit and to just gradually bend by tapping it with a mallet so it's level with the pan. I did that and it moved a bit but haven't tried the pan yet. He said that they use a LS1 as a jig and fit it before they send it out but sometimes they get bent while shipping.

DLSNFL, I'm going to try and start it before I get the body back on to see if it has the same oil pressure problem. Thanks for the heads up.

Now I'm wondering if I might've affected the other end of the tube by whacking gently on it. Geez. What a mess.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

You might try heating it before you try bend it. Seem a bit harsh to be just beating it with anything. (BFH aint the right took all of the time,.. gee, what am i saying and I can't beleive I said that... LOL).

I would then take it off, check or use a new O-Ring and then put it back on and make sure this it goes in straight and doesn't get cocked in anyway that might pinch or bind the O-Ring as you tighten the bolt.

Also.. as I said about GM's R&D of the Oil system, they put things on for a reason.. sure you can get away with not using some parts.. but IMO it was put there for a reason and to enhance preformance. A Windage tray does have a function that is needed when you get to a RPM Range. Without it, degraded preformance will occur.

my 2 cents.

Jemo

I decided to take the tube off and try to bend it so that I wasn't hitting on it while it was attached to the block. That didn't work so well so I got a scrap piece of 1x3 and then placed it against the bottom of the tube and hit it softly. It moved exactly how I wanted and now the pan fits great.

I kept the windage tray on. It can't hurt.

Pretty worried now though about kinking the o-ring or it having poor pressure but I guess I won't know until I start it up.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

Good going, hope you get it right.. cause I know the pain of it not working.... Keep us posted.

john 67

Im Worried As Well .i Bought A Pan From S& P. And Had Some Problems .the New Pickup Tube Was Preventing The Oil Pan From Mating Up To The Block . So I Used Some Clay On The Pan When Tightening It In (along Where The Pickup Tube And Pick Up Are)and Found The Tube To Be Hitting The Pan.so I Called S & P , They Said To Bend It If Nessesory And To Remove The Windage Tray. I Also Bent The Arm Near The Rear Mounting Position For The Pickup To Sit Right .so In And Out About Six Times Or So .it Seems They Could Check This Before Sending It All Out For The Cost Of It All?now Im Starting To Worry About The O Ring With It All In & Out So Many Times.is 1/4 Inch Enough For The Bottom Of The Tube? Should I Re Install The Tray? It Will Be A While Before I Start Up This Brand New Motor ,ill Be Watching The Press.gauge

67rsss

iTrader: (4)

Our S&P tube and pan lined right up and works great.

72ChevelleConv.LS1

iTrader: (5)

I had some problems with a S&P pan. I used a Fbody pan. the pickup is relocated to the rear of the sump. this areia is not the best place to pick up the oil. the fbody pan is desinged to keep the oil in the front of the sump. to help this out (after two spun berrings). I have now really got a good look at the location of the oil pickup. I have now plasma cut two large holes in the AL baffels deviding the two areias of the sump and I have fabbed a new bottom plate simmilar to the stock one in the f body sump. relocating a oil sump hole to the rear of the pan. In part I suspect under hard accelaration, the oil was jumping over the baffels in the pan and starving my motor. I have sence installed a low pressure alarm into my oiling system with 2 LEDs on my dash. I havent seen them turn on yet and I have no knocking or poor oil pressure problems as of yet. My pan didnt fit well eather, I put masking tape on all suspect areias and then put the pan on and off several times to check for worn tape. turns out it was the oil pick up tube hitting the sump baffels. man was that a pain to hammer and grind and reweld oh well thats the story of the fabercators life...