360 mopar oiling issue
 

On a 360 mopar super stocker, having an issue with no. 3 rod oiling. Now trying reaming oil feed passages on no 2 and 4 to the mains and restricting oil to the cam bearings. Would cross drilling No.2 main bearing journal be a good thing to try also? I've heard good and bad things about cross drilling. Thanks for any opinions.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

There are several factory fixes for inadequate oiling to the rod bearings. Basically restrict oiling to the lifter bores especially the passenger side should help. Do not restrict oil to the rockers.

I used to sleeve the lifter bores, all of them and let splash from the rockers oil the roller lifters.

A second method I used was that I reamed and sleeved the passenger side oil bay with a copper tube.

You can also add a supply line from the passenger side bay to the drivers bay as another method. This seems to work well but I never did it. Simple if you have a hydraulic or solid lifter cam.

In a super stock motor I would also use babbit bearings. Set them up a bit loose like .003.

Use a factory racing manual to properly size all your oil passages, especially from the passenger side oil bay to the mains and again up to the cam shaft and rockers.

Pretty sure you need more oil. What oil pan are you using?

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

In my experience, at higher RPM (7k+), these 360s get to be a problem. I've tried it all, including crossdrilling the crank, which didn't help me. Getting max solid oil to both ends of the crank is part of it. Limiting the amount of oil being bled off the mains to the cam and the heads is a larger part of it. Left oil galley needs to be plugged. Doing the tube in the galley trick is a mess. Have the lifter bores bushed instead. A number of different patches/fixes for this if you Google around some of the Mopar forums.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

I set a #3 rod free this spring... My plan is to restrict the oil to the lifter bores via tubes in the gallery and use full grooved mains.... I'm also considering putting in a cross over tube. Yes these oiling systems suck...

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

I've used the copper tubes, never again. A cross-over just provides a path for oil from the right galley to the left other than the crossover at the front main. If using tubes or bushings, the left galley should be plugged and left dry as lifters are the only thing oiled from that passage. A better choice would be a pressure line to the front of the right galley to bypass the gauntlet of the lifter bores the oil normally has to run through to get to the front of the crank.

A big problem are the 1/4 or 9/32" oil leaks from the main bearing bores to the front four cam bearings. All that oil going up instead of onto the crank needs to be addressed. Other problems are the rear main cap/oil filter mating surface and oil passages matching, oil passages in the back of the block need opened and massaged, and ensure no restrictions on the suction side of the pump.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

the oil pan that was on the engine was the engine guy's pan (rear sump truck pan with tube for steering link) now we are using a kevko pan. putting a tube in oil galley, no cross drilling crank.Did have fully grooved mains,will again too.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

That's great input. In using the crossover tube. I will be using it in conjunction with the blocked off left gallery. The left gallery will now feed the #1 main shortening the path of the gauntlet feeding from the right side
.

Now with a flat tappet cam will there be enough splash oiling for the blocked off left side lifters? I would imagine the right bank would spray oil on to these lifters too... ??

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

Run down from the rocker oiling

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

These little modifications may also help?

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

Just to clarify, the left (drivers side) galley is blocked off with a pipe plug in the feed passage at the #1 main bearing bore. Some people push a plug past the feed passage in the front of the galley under the cam thrust plate. But the plate isn't sealed to the face of the block and is another potential leak. Plugging at the bearing eliminates all of that. A crossover or direct bypass to the front of the right (pass side) galley is used in parallel with the galley and run from the very rear to the very front of the galley under the intake. This ensures that galley is fed equally well at both ends, and that the crank is oiled at the front as well. Plenty of oil being slung to oil lifters with the tubes or bushings. If the rocker gear requires pushrod oiling, the bushings can be drilled to provide that to the lifters and the left galley will have to remain fed from a crossover under the intake. Oil running to the cam from the main saddles still needs to be controlled to keep it on the crank..

The biggest problem I've had with pans is keeping the pickup submerged on deceleration. Different baffles and fixes were tried with varying success (or lack of it). I finally decided that an accusump, if allowed, or cutting the engine with a clean neutral was the best solution to that problem.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

A clean neutral will help keep the big end of the rods round.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

Thank you.... Yes that's much simpler to do...

So to recap

#1 Block the feed hole from the #1 main to the left bank

#2 Run a feed line on the right gallery from back to the front. What size?

#3 Restrict the oil to the cam on the mains that don't feed the rockers .060 orifice?

#4 Full groove mains

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

Hey Peter Who makes the lifter valley plate?

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

I have never seen another since I bought one 25 ish years ago. I have made several since, and it is quite easy to do.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

(Hey Peter Who makes the lifter valley plate?)

Larry Shepherd makes a pretty nice one, just have to machine the valley flat and it bolts down similar to the pictured one here.

And an Oil Accumulator is allowed in Super Stock, and might be the biggest help to your problem.We ran 360 in Super Stock and Stock, in stock we could not keep bearings alive and we were also using the dakota pan, after we added the accumulator no more issues.

Tim

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

So who here has been through tech with oil lines in the lifter valley?
NHRA used to take a dim view of those practices in Stock and Super Stock, has it changed? Or does it depend on the Tech Inspector?


A while back, I used some tubing on a Small Block Chev to make it live with minimal oil pressure, and improve drain back. That resulted in an ugly Indy tear down.



Back to the question. If it was my engine, I would start by bushing the lifter bores, not much fun on 59 degree blocks. Then track down all of the remaining leaks, like the cam plate.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

I blocked oil to the left galley at the #1 main bore. Bushed all the lifter bores. Oil to all of the cam bearings was restricted way down.

Oil for the heads (stock OE LA style oiling through the deck) was taken off of the 2 and 4 cam bearings and provided by plumbing under the intake. It was also restricted. Rocker gear wear showed a slight increase in wear, but I was running a fairly mild roller with not a ton of spring pressure and Crane Gold rockers.

Port matched the pump and the rear cap. Massaged and enlarged every galley in the back of the block. Put a big pump in and used dual pickups.

An external line was used for simplicity. Not allowed on a legal engine, but as I read the rules, plumbing under the intake would be OK for SS. Not sure about Stock since it's not "external" but it's also not "as produced".

In the end, the only thing getting oil from the main RS galley was the crank and 4 small jets for the cam bearings. The top end was plumbed separate from the crank and was controlled.

I blew up one engine and had to check the filter every few runs, and replace rod inserts on one or two rods every 6 or 7 runs to keep from blowing up #2. After putzing around with pans, big oil pumps, crossdrilled crank, 3/4 grooved bearings, with no help, I just took it apart and completely re-did the oil system. Went to staying together all season, filter looked pretty good all season, and not looking too bad at the winter freshen. Just had to watch the rocker gear and pushrods.

Plenty of other folks are running these things over 7k with OE cranks and they may be doing something different. Some are installing the cam bearings to cover all the holes and redrilling them whatever size they think is correct. I used drilled plugs that could be changed easily if needed. My stock crank 340s were never this fussy at 7800, until I cut an iron 360 crank to go into a 340 block to get some cheap stroke. Something about the 360s and that iron crank.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

Do you recall the size of restriction you used to the valve train and to the cam bearings?

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

one web site says to drill a new cam brg hole 1/8 th inch for 1, 3, and 5.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

.030 to the cam bearings and heads is all that is needed.
What Larry said clear neutral lets valve springs live longer.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

I'm not sure, but they were small. .035 maybe. Slightly more for the heads. I wanted to get oil on the crank and keep it there instead of squirting off in other directions. A lot of oil will come through a .035 hole with 60 PSI behind it. .125" holes in the cam bearings is a number I've seen and that sounds way bigger than it needs to be. .125" x 4 is a big oil leak.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

dynoed new motor today, made 8 pulls. Pulled oil pan and number 3 rod bearing looked real nice. Happy for the time being.

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

Good to hear...

Re: 360 mopar oiling issue
 

We used a System 1 filter. Made it pretty easy to tell what was going on. Easier than pulling the pan to look.