I'm at the point in the Corvette Kart engine build that I need to decide on which oil pan to buy. This will be a track day, hillclimb, general hooligan tire smoking toy. It's based on a C-4 Corvette with a built small block. It uses the stock subframe and steering but final ride height will be lowered a few inches over stock. There are many choices on the market, I'm just looking for advice on what you've had and what has worked for you. Canton, Moroso, Aviaid, Champs, Milodon, Armando's, Kenco????????? What has worked, not caused oil pressure drop issues in cornering or braking. Also any feelings on steel vs aluminum. I've never had a V-8 powered track toy and I'm spending more $$$ on this engine than any that I've had before in any vehicle, so I want to get a good pan/pump/pick-up.
I have used a Moroso road race pan in a Camaro, worked pretty good, but would see an oil pressure drop in right hand turns. Not to zero, just a bit lower than normal. The Canton pan is supposed to be really good, which is what I would go with if I needed one. For a SBC, the steel pans work well, not sure if the extra $$$ for aluminum is worth the costs.
No matter what pan you get, an Accusump would be something I would use as well, just for the extra insurance
In reply to lotusseven7 (Forum Supporter) :
The pan is not enough.
If you ever saw what happens in a corner to the oil in the pan you'd understand.
On High G cornering and stopping oil in the pan is like water. It slides up the sides after first going up into the timing cover. Bottom line? There is no oil at the oil pickup.
Imagine what happens if the engine is spinning around without oil for several revolutions.
In short you need to dry sump the engine. Expensive I know. But if you want the engine to last doing what you're going to be doing to it you have to step up.
Save what money you can, buy used ( Racing Junk) it will work just as well and will save you at least 1/2 of the cost of new if not more.
81cpcamaro said:
I have used a Moroso road race pan in a Camaro, worked pretty good, but would see an oil pressure drop in right hand turns. Not to zero, just a bit lower than normal. The Canton pan is supposed to be really good, which is what I would go with if I needed one. For a SBC, the steel pans work well, not sure if the extra $$$ for aluminum is worth the costs.
No matter what pan you get, an Accusump would be something I would use as well, just for the extra insurance
Invariably people who race go through 3 steps. First the pan. When they are still replacing bearings frequently they try an accusump and when that fails to work they finally step up to a dry sump.
Back in 1953 on skinny hard tires Jaguar found out all of this and came up with a dry sump. They won LeMans a total of 7 times because of that.
You'd think an accusump would work. I mean it's back up pressure and oil for cornering and braking.
The problem is it doesn't. Yes it gives a quart or so of oil under pressure to the engine when the pan goes dry due to cornering or stopping*
Then what happens? It's got to be recharged. It does that automatically as soon as it runs out. But now the oil isn't all going to the bearings it's recharging the tank pressing against the spring. But hey! The engine still needs oil doesn't it? Assuming in this case oil is already back to the pickup point ( not a sure thing by any means.) Any pressure is going two places. One to save your motor and second to charge the system. Or maybe it's to charge the system and then your motor.
Funny thing about oil pumps, they aren't built much bigger than required. So pressure suffers while the pump catches up.
* don't forget the oil the accusump provides not only goes to the oil pickup but also to recharging the accusump.
For road racing I agree dry sump is the best choice. Just wish the systems weren't so expensive. Now the engine I had is still going strong and it is 12 years old now. You can ask Gimp about it, he owns it now. The road race pan baffling did help keep more oil near the pickup and stopped it going up the sides mostly. I sure some oil still went up some.
One Solo nats I was at, one of the CP guys with a dry sump system lost the engine due to the drive belt coming off. So even dry sumps aren't perfect, just the odds are better with them.
In reply to 81cpcamaro :
You are absolutely correct. Nothing highly stressed lasts forever and yes mistakes happen. On the other hand I got used to replacing bearings after every race and rebuilding the engine 2 times a season. Until I broke down and bought a dry sump system.
I took my own advise and bought used nearly everything ( except the belt and the Pump ) I would have bought that used except the really big 4 stage weaver pump I needed was just coming out.
It went in the race car in1979. That was the last time I needed to replace bearings. Decades of racing many events a year including week long events. Yet when I sold it in 2010 that whole system was still perfect. The new owner raced it extensively and he too had no issues. It's now sitting in the Packard museum and probably going to remain there.
On other issue with an Accusump is that after the system adds the extra 2 quarts of oil that was needed to keep pressure up after the high-speed sweeper you've now got an extra two quarts of oil in the pan until it's pumped back into the Accusump. In a traditional SBC that's enough that the crank will arate the oil making it impossible to pump. A well designed pan with a screen and a scraper will help with that but it won't fix it completely.
Plenty of road race folks have successfully done this with baffles and flaps. I'm not the guy to ask about it since I'm usually going fast in a straight line, but the availability of SBC oil pans is dizzying. I think you can find one that will work without dry sumping.
The budget definitely won't support a dry sump system. Hell, I didn't even want to move forward with this damn project, but nobody wanted it, so I had no choice but to continue working toward completing it. An Accusump will be used since I have one sitting in the parts bin. Tomorrow I will call around and see what a few of the Mfg's recommend.
I've had good luck with both Moroso and Canton. Calling their tech people to explain what you're doing will usually get you what you need.
