larger oil pan?

[GT6Steve]

Lots of oil questions lately, maybe the summer temps.

My question relates to the oil capacity of these 350's and my 25 mile desert commute.

As the rod bearings are new and I don't have an easy place to attach a pressure gauge I was a bit paranoid this morning on my first trip to work in it.

At dawn it was about 80 degrees and the oil temp came up rapidly when on the freeway to about 220F. No noises or anything worrying but I watched it! 80-90 MPH after a couple days of small local trips.

On the way home I felt good about it so drove as normal. 100+F, AC on and 85 MPH. After 23 miles of open road water was 200 and oil was 250 by the dash gauges. Still no major alarm bells but I did note the 250 on the oil.

FINALLY, the question. Does the little pan on this thing really seem adequate for the long miles? I admit I was surprised when I took it off to find it so small. Hell, my two liter Triumphs have bigger pans?

Is there one of the aftermarket pans, say with a kickout, that fits nicely and provides more volume?

Or am I paranoically fixing a nonproblem?

Regards, Steve

 

[big2bird]

Your going to get a whole slew of opinions here. More oil capacity and cooling is always good, never bad, but I have found for street the stock pan is adequate. A two qt Chevy truck oil filter adds one qt for cheap.
I am concerned about your oil temp. It should normally read 20* above water, and not much more.

 

[TimAT]

I (again!) agree with Bird. That 2 quart truck filter is the easiest and cheapest way to gain some capacity. I don't see a real up front problem with 200* water and 250* oil, but a little less spread would be better. I have both water and oil temp gauges, but I've never really paid much attention to the oil temp. Especially if you're using a synthetic oil, 250 would be nothing to worry about.

The larger capacity oil pans are good for a number of reasons, moving the oil farther away from the rotating parts, more available oil, more cooling surface and so on. Like Bird said, 5 quarts has proven itself in lots of miles. The air passing by the pan down the highway does carry some heat away, but I really doubt that increasing the area of the pan will make enough difference to justify the cost.

 

[GT6Steve]

Thanx for the opinions, very welcome.

I'm suspicious and expecting the oil temp may be a bit up due to the new bearings. BUT, I take the racer out immediately after a rebuild and never fret on the bearings. Maybe I should just untwist my knickers on this one.

I've never heard of the big filter but I'll certainly be looking for it now . Thanx!

 

[TimAT]

That filter is basically an old PF-35 but it's twice as long. IIRC the old AC number was PF-832. By application, try a mid 70's era C-60 with a 350 or 427.

 

[010752]

It's always hot here too and the more oil the better.:nuts:

2 QT filters

AC = PF932
Wix = 51794
Hastings = LF226
Purolator = 40084
Napa = 1794
NAPA PROSELECT = 21794
NAPA GOLD = 51794, 51794R

Here is a good quality 7 qt pan that fits perfectly and a super price, 7 1/4 deep.

http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Garag...lock-Chevy-Pan,5083.html?parentDisplayId=1756

 

[GT6Steve]

Thanx for those cross references! I'd already decided to get the bigger filter but that just makes it a bit easier.

The pan you show is exactly what I had in mind but I learnt the hard way this last week about the rear seal area. I bought a SUPERB Fel-Pro oil pan gasket only to discover the rear seal area was much larger than mine. I cut and glued and played with it but Monday morning I went to a different shop and got the right one. NICE bit of gasketry!

So I'll be looking for just such a pan with a smaller rear seal area. I am of the opinion that extra oil is an advantage.

Thanx to all for the valuable info for this Chevy novice.

Really, Thanx loads!:thumbs:


BTW, today water was 200 and oil 230 on a slightly hotter day. We must be breaking in...

 

[010752]

Thanx for those cross references! I'd already decided to get the bigger filter but that just makes it a bit easier.

The pan you show is exactly what I had in mind but I learnt the hard way this last week about the rear seal area. I bought a SUPERB Fel-Pro oil pan gasket only to discover the rear seal area was much larger than mine. I cut and glued and played with it but Monday morning I went to a different shop and got the right one. NICE bit of gasketry!

So I'll be looking for just such a pan with a smaller rear seal area. I am of the opinion that extra oil is an advantage.

Thanx to all for the valuable info for this Chevy novice.

Really, Thanx loads!:thumbs:


BTW, today water was 200 and oil 230 on a slightly hotter day. We must be breaking in...

There is a thick and a thin gasket for different blocks, Don't remember exactly when it changed.

 

[GT6Steve]

LORDY!

do you open a can of worms when researching oil pans! They make the best infomercials on the cheap cable channel look like gospel. ;-))

I've developed a big oil leak over the last couple days after the big end bearing overhaul. I hope it's just an area needing more clamping force.

I'm still looking at bigger pans because of my high speed highway work daily but don't see anything yet. Tomorrow I'll buy a truck filter. It's time anyway on the new bearings.

Ya know, if state of Nevada would put more troopers on that section of road I'd not be looking at this thread. But then, I guess the big pan is cheaper:clobbered:

 

[GT6Steve]

Fit the two quart oil filter today. It hangs a bit low, about an inch below the exhaust but seems to be OK so far. Five speed bumps on the way home from the pub. Oil temps are good these days at about 230 on the same bit of hiway, likely the bearings have broken in. I'll cut open the old filter this weekend for a looksee but really can't expect to see anything but old rod bearing bits showing up. It'll take a while to get them out of all the corners...

Steve

 

[redvetracr]

I haven`t looked in years but Moroso used to sell a "weld on" kit to turn your existing pan into a large capacity trap door road race pan...

 

[Bee Jay]

I'm no expert like some of the engine guys here, but I do know one thing. My engines and transmissions last longer when I add oil coolers. My engine oil cooler sits in the middle of my modified front bumper/valence area and my engine oil temp never goes higher than the water temp, and is usually lower. I use my old AC condenser as my trans cooler, not an option there in Nevada. I also have a large capacity/kick out oil pan, and I usually get the tall oil filters. All my other sports cars and my ancient tech Harley has dry sump with large capacity oil tanks. Chevy finally did that with the Z06.
Bee Jay