So, while I'm in my engine anyway, I wanted to make it easier for the oil pump to pull oil from the sump. I've been told to space the pickup up from the pan base, but that requires bending, cutting, and welding the pickup. It may work fine, but it seems like there's an easier way. Why wouldn't I be able to just drill a series of maybe 4 holes on the back side of the oval shaped pickup piece so oil can enter through there as well as the bottom? Would adding that extra entry space make it more difficult for the pump to pull oil in? Right now, there's just a small slot in the base of the pickup for oil to enter, so I'm wondering if it needs to be small in order for the pump to create a suction. This is an area I dont have much experience in, so I'm hoping someone who is a seasoned builder can give me advice as to whether this is a sound idea or not.

 

YES, the Pickup BASE can be "sucked" to the Pan Bottom.
MY method is to weld nuts to the screen cover facing the pan

 

Lance, that is an excellent idea! Just get ones with the right thickness for the gap I want. It's not sounding like modifying the pickup with holes is a good idea, from what I've read.

 

.
.
.
.
.
.. What is the clearance ( gap) between underside of pickup and bottom of oil pan that we are shooting for ?

 

I'm going to set it around .275"-.300"

 

Keep it .375” or closer. Do not drill holes in the pickup. The opening must be on the bottom, and is plenty big enough. The pickup tube is very robust and will not move. I build a lot of high end, high rpm race engines and I’ve never seen evidence of the pickup tube moving. I mock up my pickup heights and record it in the build records, for every build I send out.