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Hi all, I have a 2002 Corvette dedicated track car with a 383 stroker, I am running Redline 15w40 Race oil. I believe it has a hi volume oil pump but not sure. Now I put in some Smith Bros .040 oil restricted pushrods cause the valve covers seem to get full of oil at sustained hi revs and G-loads, and this oil would fill my catch cans completely after about 15 mins on track.
My question to everyone is, the idle oil PSI is about 40 and 55psi once hot and revved up to about 4k, would I run the risk of blowing out seals with these pressures? Would a windage tray help anything? THX Brian!
Hi all, I have a 2002 Corvette dedicated track car with a 383 stroker, I am running Redline 15w40 Race oil. I believe it has a hi volume oil pump but not sure. Now I put in some Smith Bros .040 oil restricted pushrods cause the valve covers seem to get full of oil at sustained hi revs and G-loads, and this oil would fill my catch cans completely after about 15 mins on track.
My question to everyone is, the idle oil PSI is about 40 and 55psi once hot and revved up to about 4k, would I run the risk of blowing out seals with these pressures? Would a windage tray help anything? THX Brian!
No. I ran oil restricted SB pushrods with the Melling Hi-Volume pump in my old Darton MID 427 LS1 block. Still have the pushrods, but I'm running Trend 3/8" diameter pushrods in my built LS7. The SBs are 5/16" diameter. I am still running the Melling 10296 Hi-Vo pump. Oil pressure has no effect on blowing out seals. Too much oil volume in the crankcase can, and will, blow out seals. Also, the factory engine should have a windage tray already there. ....
Last edited by grinder11; Oct 17, 2022 at 10:55 AM.
The crankcase and associated seals do not see oil pressure. All they see is crankcase pressure, which is basically air pressure before venting. Your catch can setup, if properly installed, should alleviate the crankcase pressure without filling up with oil. Lots and lots of guys road race their vettes and have zero problems with their catch cans filling up.
Wouldn't drilling larger return holes back to the pan be a better solution than restricting oil flow over moving parts?
No. In fact, the Gen1 SBC would often be fitted with drain back hole plugs, forcing the oil to drain at the front and/or rear of the block. They did this because oil dripping on the rotating assembly would promote whipping the oil into a frothy blend at high rpm, and cost power due to the rotating assembly being forced to spinoff the excess oil. Many, many things learned on the original SBC also apply to the LSx motors. The original SBC is now 68 years old. You can learn a lot about what does, and does not, work in the modern LS motors by referencing the original SBC. This is one reason the LS motors were so damn good right from the beginning. GM took most of the best features of the original SBC, then added the racers tricks, all incorporated into the new design. The factory got it right. My .02..
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Oil Restricted Pushrods..... 
