LT1 383 Oil Pan/Windage tray Clearancing
 

So I was on my way to installing the stock LT1 Oil Pan on my LT1/383 build(6.0"SRP rods/ARP bolts) and happened to notice that the rod bolts were contacting the windage tray while test fitting the pan(just a fluke really, happened to turn the crank to check/eyeball the side block skirt/pan clearance?!),...so using a long 3/8" extension and a hammer I clearanced those rod bolts with a couple taps to the already installed/locktighted windage tray.

I went on to fitting the oil pan and it seemed to clear everything, until I had bolted it all down firmly,...then came to a hard lock on crank rotation,...went 359 degrees the other way and came up with the same lock,...removed the pan and had a nice witness mark on the side/corner/lip of the oil pan rail.
When I looked it over tho I could tell that other rod bolts must be very close as well, so, as not want to find out after the entire car was built and running I decided to clearance any/all rod bolt heads that were going to be close to the oil pan rail.

I have included pics for your purusal.

My father worked the torch and would heat a 25 cent coin size red spot right were I had marked the oil pan rail with a sharpie and I would hold the oil pan with one hand, with the oil pan rail supported by the edge of the wooden work bench and hammer with the round end of a ball peen hammer,...5 minutes later and one good burn on my holding hand palm(hot metal looks a lot like cool metal?!) it was done.

So, install again and all good,...ahhhh,...no, I heard a faint scraping sound on crank rotation and after removing the oil pan again I saw that there two witness marks on the front floor on the oil pan where again, rod bolt heads were scraping along.

this time no heat, just cradling the oil pan on the vise to help support directly aound were I was going to pound with the ball peen hammer gently(?!), (20-30 light blows with the ball point hammer round end) I worked the area of the witness marks and around same.

I was surprised that I had clearance issues at so many points(windage tray,oil pan bottom, oil pan sides), that good old 350 is built with not an aweful lot of extra room internally, and hope this will help others to be vigilant and observe closely for clearance/contact when assembling their 383,...

I am hoping that I got it all figured and will post again when this thing fires.

If anyone else has experience with this process and wants to chime in, now, before I finish bolting this thing all together would be a good time and much appreciated.

If you didn't before, you should check your clearancing without a gasket. Then once everything clears, you will have a little extra room with the gasket in place.

yep i agree on the gasket thing........also check your cam to rod clearance and your block clearance........

Hey, thats a good idea on checking without the gasket,...you can't see in those pics but I clearanced the block nicely with a die grinder and a carbide bit, even went back with a sandpaper flapper bit and smoothed it.

I had it bored after that work and the engine builder said it looked good, he had the crank/rods etc. for balancing.

yeah I had to clearance alot with I-beams, I couldn't imagine with H-beams.

I don't think I'll be opting for H-beams on any future builds personally. then again I don't really have any plans of building a motor that would truely neccessitate them.

when I did the rod bolt clearancing the required spec turned out to be right around the diameter of a paper clip using a micrometer. basically just ended up running a paper clip between any areas where there is a close proximity between a rod bolt and surface. if the paper clip slid between them smoothly with no catching I was in the clear.

be careful when installing the motor not to put any weight on the oil pan as it can cause any "clearancing" in the pan to pop back in. happened to me.

I heard that, about using a paper clip to check for clearance,...I went bigger than that, and moved the rods around, back and forth,side to side to ensure clearance in almost any situation.
It was a bit messy, but with the air powered die grinder and carbide bit the block metal carved pretty nicely/quickly.
I've enjoyed this build,...if it fires and runs well I'll be really happy.

yeah my first motor build was a 383, didn't exactly start small and simple lol.

definately rewarding when something you had your hands on all the way through comes to life.

nothing like that first fire up on a fresh motor you built with open headers, til you've been there it's hard to understand how beautiful of a thing it is :nod:

very scary though watching that first dyno pull and waiting for something to fly out the side of the block lol

I went with a Canton 242t 3rd gen F body oilpan which was already "stroker clearanced and didn't have any issues.

How true, my grrlfren told me she never saw me happier than when our ski boat motor I built fired up for the first time.