jonathan_ed3

iTrader: (4)

So today I cut up my Hummer H3 Alpha oil pan (aka "muscle car" pan) to make it fit my conversion application.

I measured the volume of the part i cut out, and it's 2.5 cups, which according to my math (and please correct me if I'm wrong) is about .6 quarts.

Since I'll have to use the truck oil filter rather than the LS1 filter with this pan, I will be gaining *SOME* volume back. Probably not much, but some.

What are your thoughts on this lost volume? Should I try to make it up somehow?

How much oil should I use in my engine?

Looking for some guidance here from you more experienced guys. I definitely don't want to turn my LS1 into a paper weight.

dpd069

iTrader: (1)

Whats' the total capacity after the pan was modified?

The f-body pan is a quart less than the truck pan anyway. Did you just make a truck pan into the same capacity as the f-body?

jonathan_ed3

iTrader: (4)

The new bottom plate hasn't been welded onto the pan yet so I can't measure total capacity yet. But the part I cut out had a total capacity of EXACTLY 2.5 cups, which should be ~.6 quarts.

According to the sticky in this forum about oil pans, the H3 Alpha pan is 5.5qts and so is the F-Body pan. I don't know if that's a typo, but stock it definitely didn't look as big as a true "truck" pan.

When the welder is putting the plate on, I may see about him adding some additional volume elsewhere on the pan. But I was hoping to keep costs down!

frojoe

iTrader: (10)

I would think that a an oil cooler with 1/2" inlet/outlet and average length lines of 3' each direction going to/from (1/2" too, of course) should make up a cup or even two.... ??

6L.IROC-Z

iTrader: (6)

I wouldn't worry about .6 quarts, think about all the motors running around with 1+ quarts low, the soccer moms who never change there oil and let it get low in there Tahoe's and Suburbans. Just my 2 cents

1quickirocz

I agree. tahoes and subs in my shop all the time that dont have a drop on the stick because they go 20k miles between oil changes and they run just fine. I think you will be fine running 5 qrts or maybe even alittle less.

dpd069

iTrader: (1)

I cut 1.75" off a truck pan and welded a new bottom on it - the oil capacity is now the same as yours. (After I hung the exhaust, I kind of wished I hadn't - I could have take half that and been fine - Oh well)

The truck is about 6.5 quarts and the f-body is about 5.5

Running a half a quart low isn't likely to be an issue unless you are really thrashing the car at high RPMs. I've never heard of an f-body a half quart low having oiling problems

They say that when the motor was being developed that it would pump oil up into the motor faster than it could drain down into the pan and they had some starvation issues but I understand between increased oil capacity and return 'windows' in the block that issue was resolved.

If you are really concerned, over fill it by a half quart. There is a local driving school here using Corvettes and the local Chevy dealer does some of the work on them. The service rep tells me the school overfills them by more than quart at the beginning of every day to avoid putting oil in them during the day. He said it can be a little messy on the PCV and intake, but it generally isnt a problem.

I'm going to run mine a half quart over-full to get to the f-body capacity

Pseudonym

iTrader: (3)

It will be fine.

jonathan_ed3

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the help guys.

Next question is how far from the bottom of the pan should the pickup be?

I've read anything from 3/16" to 1".

dpd069

iTrader: (1)

I put mine about a quarter of an inch.

You might want to get an f-body pickup and see how far off the bottom it is in the stock configuration.