oil control

[ericjon262]

not sure if any of you watch Engine Masters, but the latest episode compared a Milodon($500), and Moroso($1100!!!) oil pan, and picked up over 10 ft lbs across the entire curve, and over 25 hp, as well as a much more stable oil pressure curve. Between this episode and another where they tested oil level changes affect on HP, it got me thinking quite a bit on oil control. outside of dry sump and the typical oil control mods, have any of you seen any interesting or cool mods to improve oil control?

[The Dark Side of Will]

That's been known in general terms for a long time... that's why a lot of dedicated drag race oil pans have very deep sumps: to get the oil away from the crank.

Because the drain back flows over the cam and crank, LS engines (and Gen I/II SBCs before them) have notoriously bad oil control. Running the production pans 1-2 quarts over full is standard practice for an LS engine on track. This does not help windage losses at all, but keeps engines alive through high lateral g's.

Improved Racing has some well designed baffle kits for a wide variety of LS oil pans: http://www.improvedracing.com/oiling-sy ... -3_11.html

Any engine with dedicated drain back passages--basically any OHC engine--is going to be better in that regard than an LS.

Allen Cline told me that the Northstar had been validated by tilting it at 45 degrees on the dyno. He said it would handle the 45 degree tilt in any orientation. That means it should be good for up to 1g with the production sump. All it has is a fairly long mid sump with a horizontal baffle. The fill level is above the baffle during normal operation, so oil draining back flows down around the edges of the baffle to get to the pickup. The baffle keeps oil from flowing away from the pickup during transient maneuvers.

Crank scrapers are another tool for oil control: https://www.crank-scrapers.com/
They're marketed to reduce windage losses, but any means that returns oil to the sump more quickly will improve oil pressure stability.

[ericjon262]

I was just surprised by the oil pressure gained from a "proper" oil level, and the power gained by it. the test they ran was with a solid roller cam, on a hydraulic cam, oil pressure might make an even bigger difference than the 30 hp they made. it's enough to interest me in working an oil pan, scraper and windage tray on my engine, or even a dry sump setup.

all that being said, my car is going to keep a stock pan, at least for the time being, I need to get it back on the road.