Modifying stock oil pan
Modifying stock oil pan After hearing all the stories about guys running dry due to "all the oil stacking up in the rear of the pan" it made me think.. Why not just modify the pan and pick up tube? For this particular pan (LS2/3) there is baffling inside.
I know a lot of guys that like to use these pans on swap cars because they are the most shallow. Ive always wondered why GM didn't put the pick up at the rear of the LS2/3 pan and then I realized that this pan was designed for more road race type situations than drag racing. The baffling was designed to help those situations and foaming/sloshing around. Well since I don't road race the car I could really careless about even oil spread through out the pan. For my purposes I need the pick up tube at the rear of the pan and a nice easy path for the oil to travel under heavy acceleration. Currently there is a rather narrow pathway for that oil to travel to the rear of the pan in a hurry.
What I am proposing is (3) 9/16" or larger holes drilled on both sides of the baffles shown in picture two. I am also proposing cutting and extending the pickup tube about 4" locating it to the actual rear of the oil pan. I will cut notches in the baffles to obviously clearance the tube.
Before I do this, Is there something I'm missing? Or not considering? This seems like a pretty easy and cheap fix for the "drag race" users of this pan.
I know a lot of guys that like to use these pans on swap cars because they are the most shallow. Ive always wondered why GM didn't put the pick up at the rear of the LS2/3 pan and then I realized that this pan was designed for more road race type situations than drag racing. The baffling was designed to help those situations and foaming/sloshing around. Well since I don't road race the car I could really careless about even oil spread through out the pan. For my purposes I need the pick up tube at the rear of the pan and a nice easy path for the oil to travel under heavy acceleration. Currently there is a rather narrow pathway for that oil to travel to the rear of the pan in a hurry.
What I am proposing is (3) 9/16" or larger holes drilled on both sides of the baffles shown in picture two. I am also proposing cutting and extending the pickup tube about 4" locating it to the actual rear of the oil pan. I will cut notches in the baffles to obviously clearance the tube.
Before I do this, Is there something I'm missing? Or not considering? This seems like a pretty easy and cheap fix for the "drag race" users of this pan.
Well, remember you have to brake maybe even pretty hard at the end of a run,
With the pickup at the far rear, it may uncover during braking,
Unless of course you have drum brakes. :-)
With the pickup at the far rear, it may uncover during braking,
Unless of course you have drum brakes. :-)
9 Second Club
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 394
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From: Just outside Memphis
Since you are thinking straight line only, what about removing the baffles on either side of the pickup (left and right)? That way, the center sump is much larger. The way it is stock, under hard launch I can see all the oil going to the rear sump and pooling in the side sumps so that there is oil starve when the little center sump drains (where the pickup tube is). If you remove the side baffling, you wouldn't have to extend the pickup tube either. Then the pickup would still be fed under hard braking. Just don't pull any high G turns.
Since you are thinking straight line only, what about removing the baffles on either side of the pickup (left and right)? That way, the center sump is much larger. The way it is stock, under hard launch I can see all the oil going to the rear sump and pooling in the side sumps so that there is oil starve when the little center sump drains (where the pickup tube is). If you remove the side baffling, you wouldn't have to extend the pickup tube either. Then the pickup would still be fed under hard braking. Just don't pull any high G turns.
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After hearing all the stories about guys running dry due to "all the oil stacking up in the rear of the pan" it made me think.. Why not just modify the pan and pick up tube? For this particular pan (LS2/3) there is baffling inside.
I know a lot of guys that like to use these pans on swap cars because they are the most shallow. Ive always wondered why GM didn't put the pick up at the rear of the LS2/3 pan and then I realized that this pan was designed for more road race type situations than drag racing. The baffling was designed to help those situations and foaming/sloshing around. Well since I don't road race the car I could really careless about even oil spread through out the pan. For my purposes I need the pick up tube at the rear of the pan and a nice easy path for the oil to travel under heavy acceleration. Currently there is a rather narrow pathway for that oil to travel to the rear of the pan in a hurry.
What I am proposing is (3) 9/16" or larger holes drilled on both sides of the baffles shown in picture two. I am also proposing cutting and extending the pickup tube about 4" locating it to the actual rear of the oil pan. I will cut notches in the baffles to obviously clearance the tube.
Before I do this, Is there something I'm missing? Or not considering? This seems like a pretty easy and cheap fix for the "drag race" users of this pan.
I know a lot of guys that like to use these pans on swap cars because they are the most shallow. Ive always wondered why GM didn't put the pick up at the rear of the LS2/3 pan and then I realized that this pan was designed for more road race type situations than drag racing. The baffling was designed to help those situations and foaming/sloshing around. Well since I don't road race the car I could really careless about even oil spread through out the pan. For my purposes I need the pick up tube at the rear of the pan and a nice easy path for the oil to travel under heavy acceleration. Currently there is a rather narrow pathway for that oil to travel to the rear of the pan in a hurry.
What I am proposing is (3) 9/16" or larger holes drilled on both sides of the baffles shown in picture two. I am also proposing cutting and extending the pickup tube about 4" locating it to the actual rear of the oil pan. I will cut notches in the baffles to obviously clearance the tube.
Before I do this, Is there something I'm missing? Or not considering? This seems like a pretty easy and cheap fix for the "drag race" users of this pan.
The deceleration issue is not really an issue in my experience, and I run a chute as well as huge brakes. If you are worried about it, add a baffle setup.
I use an ls1 pan, so I had to make a new baffle cover. Was extremely simple though.
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Verdad Gallardo I relocated mine to the rear by extending the tube. Was very simple.
The deceleration issue is not really an issue in my experience, and I run a chute as well as huge brakes. If you are worried about it, add a baffle setup.
I use an ls1 pan, so I had to make a new baffle cover. Was extremely simple though.
The deceleration issue is not really an issue in my experience, and I run a chute as well as huge brakes. If you are worried about it, add a baffle setup.
I use an ls1 pan, so I had to make a new baffle cover. Was extremely simple though.
Central pickup is always a bad idea in a drag pan IMO. I think most of the problems come from the aftermarket and/or high volume oil pumps though. I had zero issues with the factory gen3 truck oil pump and unmodified F-body pan. 1.3x 60's wheels up and all for over a year. My bearings all looked great on the engine when I blew it to hell.
Same exact setup with a high volume oil pump would uncover the pickup on hard launches. Running the $200 "Improved Racing" baffle now...with the gen3 truck oil pump.
Scotty extended his F-body pan pickup tube and has no issues during high speed braking I'm aware of. I believe he 60' in the 1.2x range and trapped 160+
Same exact setup with a high volume oil pump would uncover the pickup on hard launches. Running the $200 "Improved Racing" baffle now...with the gen3 truck oil pump.
Scotty extended his F-body pan pickup tube and has no issues during high speed braking I'm aware of. I believe he 60' in the 1.2x range and trapped 160+
Last edited by Forcefed86; Apr 23, 2015 at 01:39 PM.
Thanks for the confidence booster guys. I'll defiantly be doing this, this weekend. Any thoughts on the holes i want to drill?
Last edited by oscs; Apr 23, 2015 at 02:03 PM.
With the engine running, I pulled my lower turbo drain and added oil until it started coming out. (have 2 drain on my pan seen in pics below) I was able to get about 8 qts in before it trickled out the bottom drain. Stock48 and a few others think this causes serious windage issues and claim to have seen as much as 50whp lost by running 1qt “overfull”. Suppose if I had to choose between wiped bearings and a 50 hp though…
Took a few pics last time I had the pan out. With my LC9 eng. running the level drops about 2qts. That was using the High Volume DOD pump.
The pan is a little “nose up”. That’s how it is installed in my car. Oil level would be a little lower if your pan sits level.
This is 5 qts.
Here is 6 qts.
It barely cleared my first drain. (using the larger drain up front now.) But if you add the oil filter capacity and the engine oil passage capacity I still think 6qts would more than clear my first drain. And be clear of the crank/windage tray.
I believe the same 5.5 is recommended.
With the engine running, I pulled my lower turbo drain and added oil until it started coming out. (have 2 drain on my pan seen in pics below) I was able to get about 8 qts in before it trickled out the bottom drain. Stock48 and a few others think this causes serious windage issues and claim to have seen as much as 50whp lost by running 1qt “overfull”. Suppose if I had to choose between wiped bearings and a 50 hp though…
Took a few pics last time I had the pan out. With my LC9 eng. running the level drops about 2qts. That was using the High Volume DOD pump.
The pan is a little “nose up”. That’s how it is installed in my car. Oil level would be a little lower if your pan sits level.
This is 5 qts.
Here is 6 qts.
It barely cleared my first drain. (using the larger drain up front now.) But if you add the oil filter capacity and the engine oil passage capacity I still think 6qts would more than clear my first drain. And be clear of the crank/windage tray.
With the engine running, I pulled my lower turbo drain and added oil until it started coming out. (have 2 drain on my pan seen in pics below) I was able to get about 8 qts in before it trickled out the bottom drain. Stock48 and a few others think this causes serious windage issues and claim to have seen as much as 50whp lost by running 1qt “overfull”. Suppose if I had to choose between wiped bearings and a 50 hp though…
Took a few pics last time I had the pan out. With my LC9 eng. running the level drops about 2qts. That was using the High Volume DOD pump.
The pan is a little “nose up”. That’s how it is installed in my car. Oil level would be a little lower if your pan sits level.
This is 5 qts.
Here is 6 qts.
It barely cleared my first drain. (using the larger drain up front now.) But if you add the oil filter capacity and the engine oil passage capacity I still think 6qts would more than clear my first drain. And be clear of the crank/windage tray.
Man that is crazy 8qts! and here i am stressing thinking i had to much at 6.5..
Could also add an oil accumulator… Prob not a bad idea anyway. I’d guess your oil temps will get out of control on half mile stuff without a big oil cooler too.
If you run a big oil cooler, remote mount a large filter (Or 2), and an accumulator, you could have 10-12qts in the system.
If you run a big oil cooler, remote mount a large filter (Or 2), and an accumulator, you could have 10-12qts in the system.
9 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 13,616
Likes: 185
From: Norn Iron
If you have room, why not try an LS6 Vette sump ?
I've an Autokraft steel pan on my car, never had any issues with surge etc. It's a quite decent design with a central collector and trapdoors.
I've an Autokraft steel pan on my car, never had any issues with surge etc. It's a quite decent design with a central collector and trapdoors.
Could also add an oil accumulator… Prob not a bad idea anyway. I’d guess your oil temps will get out of control on half mile stuff without a big oil cooler too.
If you run a big oil cooler, remote mount a large filter (Or 2), and an accumulator, you could have 10-12qts in the system.
If you run a big oil cooler, remote mount a large filter (Or 2), and an accumulator, you could have 10-12qts in the system.