High oil pressure?

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Pvt Parts

Takes a while for the newbies to catch on Ed. I was doing the same thing to my pumps back in the late 70's and 80's. And we're not talking about changing the bypass spring.

Wish I could think of the guy's name that got me thinking correctly about sbc's oil pumps. He was a Modified & Comp engine builder from New Mexico in the '70s. Wish I could think of his name now. (I’m old) Had the pick up tube fall out of the oil pump in my ’56 Chevy at Albuquerque NM. Too much blowing sand & dirt to pull the pan there! I just loaded up. He was asking what happened, and told me I should be pulling the spring and braze the pick up in place, then ask how much oil pressure I had? I proudly announced “65 psi!” He said, “And a high volume pump?” I said “Yes!” He then screwed my head on straight about pumps and pressure. I have an old rear main cap, tapped for a fitting, flexible hose and oil pressure gauge. I bolt the pump to it, drop in the parts washer and spin it up with a ½” drill. What I see there, I see in the car. Been doing it this way since that day. Before synthetic oil too. <G>

[BlueOval Ralph]

McClintock?

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Wish I could think of the guy's name that got me thinking correctly about sbc's oil pumps. He was a Modified & Comp engine builder from New Mexico in the '70s. Wish I could think of his name now. (I’m old) Had the pick up tube fall out of the oil pump in my ’56 Chevy at Albuquerque NM. Too much blowing sand & dirt to pull the pan there! I just loaded up. He was asking what happened, and told me I should be pulling the spring and braze the pick up in place, then ask how much oil pressure I had? I proudly announced “65 psi!” He said, “And a high volume pump?” I said “Yes!” He then screwed my head on straight about pumps and pressure. I have an old rear main cap, tapped for a fitting, flexible hose and oil pressure gauge. I bolt the pump to it, drop in the parts washer and spin it up with a ½” drill. What I see there, I see in the car. Been doing it this way since that day. Before synthetic oil too. <G>

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by BlueOval Ralph

McClintock?

Sounds right.

[Pvt Parts]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

Wish I could think of the guy's name that got me thinking correctly about sbc's oil pumps. He was a Modified & Comp engine builder from New Mexico in the '70s. Wish I could think of his name now. (I’m old) Had the pick up tube fall out of the oil pump in my ’56 Chevy at Albuquerque NM. Too much blowing sand & dirt to pull the pan there! I just loaded up. He was asking what happened, and told me I should be pulling the spring and braze the pick up in place, then ask how much oil pressure I had? I proudly announced “65 psi!” He said, “And a high volume pump?” I said “Yes!” He then screwed my head on straight about pumps and pressure. I have an old rear main cap, tapped for a fitting, flexible hose and oil pressure gauge. I bolt the pump to it, drop in the parts washer and spin it up with a ½” drill. What I see there, I see in the car. Been doing it this way since that day. Before synthetic oil too. <G>

Mike Keown got me up to speed on the pumps. I was getting the good synthetic from Alaska and overseas before it was available here. I worked at one of the largest Chevrolet Dealers in Indy when I got out of school. The 302 cid Z28's did have a problem with pumping the pan dry. A lot of it could have been abuse.... not enough oil to start with and too many rpm's. They'd usually spin 1 and 2 or fly apart. I remember getting a repair order to check a Z28 for a blown engine. You never know what the customer told the service writer. It could be anything. I got in the car and was going to drive it into the bay when I noticed the beam of a connecting rod sitting on top of the console. You see it all when you work in a large dealership.

[Ed Wright]

Originally Posted by Pvt Parts

Mike Keown got me up to speed on the pumps. I was getting the good synthetic from Alaska and overseas before it was available here. I worked at one of the largest Chevrolet Dealers in Indy when I got out of school. The 302 cid Z28's did have a problem with pumping the pan dry. A lot of it could have been abuse.... not enough oil to start with and too many rpm's. They'd usually spin 1 and 2 or fly apart. I remember getting a repair order to check a Z28 for a blown engine. You never know what the customer told the service writer. It could be anything. I got in the car and was going to drive it into the bay when I noticed the beam of a connecting rod sitting on top of the console. You see it all when you work in a large dealership.

I know guys that raced those things off the warantee book. LOL Probably the hardest driven new GM cars ever.

[Charles Rainey]

Originally Posted by Ed Wright

But, those were Fords. And sbc = Small Block Chevy, which has a great oiling system, unlike the early Fords. Myself, and many others building small block Chevys use the STD volume pump, modified for LESS volume. I also limit mine to 40 psi @ 8500 RPM. Bearings always look like new. Just replace them when I start to feel guilty about running them so long. If you ever build a sbc, call Larry Stewart Sr about buying an oil pump.

Ed
I didnt mean to step on your toes, but I havent seen people use 10 psi for 1000rpm and apparently you dont either by your posting as above. Carl and I was just saying there is several ways to get to the oil issues of motors. I have found that a SBC only needs 4.5 gpm and a ford needs 6.5 gpm but every once in a while you get an engine that is an anomaly and for what ever reason needs slightly more. I have always felt that Melling and several oil pump companies are pretty good business people. I have no idea why they built a HV pump but I am pretty sure they knew what they were doing. I can purchase a HV pump for about the same price as a Std pump on my WD account and I lower the spring pressure even more so I dont bang on the unloader all the time. I have always felt that oil is as much a coolant as water and you can get clearances so tight that you do not get volume or at least not enough to carry off the heat and also I feel you want enough pressure to create the hydrodynamic wedge that you need. Many factors go into how much oil you need etc, width of bearing, compression ratio, normally aspirated or not. I have found turbo motors with boost like volume but it doesnt mean you have to flood, just carry the heat off.
Sorry didnt mean to toe step Ed. Just expressing an opinion

[carl hinkson]

We build a lot of circle track engines for the last 35 years or so and we use a lot of 10552 and 10553 pumps, Plus we building alot of engines with .903 lifter bores which will bleed off a little more oil. But the 10% more volume pumps seem to work very well.

On our Honda rod and 283 main engines we use the standard volume pump and still have to drill another bypass hole to keep the oil pressure under control.

I also use the drve pump which is a low volume drag race pump onn some of my build with zero problems.

[Charles Rainey]

Hello Carl
Havent talked to you in many years. People as old as me and you should have already retired but------. I too use more select pumps now than I did in the past. I also have found the .903 requires more oil than the .842. Big Blocks shows the same requirements. As Ed has said, he is running 40 psi thru the lights. I have several motors running 5 gpm and running less pressure than even that. I look for volume and not pressure and I watch temp coming out of bearings to see if I need more flow.

[Ed Wright]

Charles, I have Honda rod bearings, std 350" mains and .904 lifters (bushed bores) in mine, and use a pump with shortened gears with a "stuffer" plate to cut volume. With zero wt oil it idles about 15 psi hot, goes to 40 by 2500 RPM. Cold it idles close to 40. Idle speed is 1600.

I don't think sharing what we have learned is stepping on toes.

Take care, Ed

[carl hinkson]

Originally Posted by Charles Rainey

Hello Carl
Havent talked to you in many years. People as old as me and you should have already retired but------. I too use more select pumps now than I did in the past. I also have found the .903 requires more oil than the .842. Big Blocks shows the same requirements. As Ed has said, he is running 40 psi thru the lights. I have several motors running 5 gpm and running less pressure than even that. I look for volume and not pressure and I watch temp coming out of bearings to see if I need more flow.

I am only 51 years old and still have a few miles to go before I retire LOL