Sump capacity

[ayjay]

I'm about to modify the sump on my cvh engine.

How important is it to restore the sump capacity if Im only chopping 30mm or so off the deep part of the sump.

I'm considering not bothering with the extension bit of the mod.

Any thought on the matter would be appreciated.

ps when I get someone to show me how to do it I'll post some pics but nothing exciting yet. (how many chassis does anyone need to see!)

Adrian

[flyerncle]

Cool's aswell as lubes,more is better.

Old group 4 escorts had big wings welded to sump to increase capacity.

[Big Vern]

Originally Posted by ayjay

I'm about to modify the sump on my cvh engine.

How important is it to restore the sump capacity if Im only chopping 30mm or so off the deep part of the sump.

I'm considering not bothering with the extension bit of the mod.

Any thought on the matter would be appreciated.

ps when I get someone to show me how to do it I'll post some pics but nothing exciting yet. (how many chassis does anyone need to see!)

Adrian

HI Adrian,

The volume of oil in the sump pan is determined by how much oil is circulating round the engine as max revs. If you reduce the volume of oil by not doing the extension then the engine will suffer oil starvation at high revs followed rapidly by failure!
Do not be tempted just to raise the oil level above the max mark on the dipstick - it's there for a reason - The crank and rods will dip into the oil when the level is raised causing major problems, loss of power and even crank failure.
The extension is not hard to do compared to some of the other tasks on the haynes roadster, its not a short cut as you'll be doing it later when you fit a replacement engine!!!


BV.

[flyerncle]

As Vern say's raising the oil level is a bad idea as it also increases the possibility of oil mist entering the breather system and getting sucked into the engine and getting burnt making it very smokey.

[alga]

But then again, 1 l is about the amount of oil between the upper and lower dipstick marks. So when you'll have oil topped up to the MAX mark, the amount of oil will be the same as is on an unmodified sump on the MIN mark. Surely there are some safety margins either way. If the oil level is carefully monitored, it should be fine.

[baz-r]

not a good idea if you ask me

think of all the sloshing around as you brake and corner hard

its not a hard job and its not a expensive job i would do it load easyer than trying to sort an oil starved engine!

[Big Vern]

Originally Posted by alga

But then again, 1 l is about the amount of oil between the upper and lower dipstick marks. So when you'll have oil topped up to the MAX mark, the amount of oil will be the same as is on an unmodified sump on the MIN mark. Surely there are some safety margins either way. If the oil level is carefully monitored, it should be fine.

When you run at the minimum mark, at max intermittant revs (6350 for the Pinto) as specified by Ford there is only 0.75 litre left in the sump pan which is about 20mm. The pick up pipe is 6mm from the sump pan floor!
At 7300 revs the pick up starts to draw air - I found out the hard way
It's made worse because at high revs and higher blow-by the oil can't drain back from the head properly.

The margin of error is the difference between min and max.


BV.

[alga]

I stand corrected. Then, there's a dilemma there: whether to leave the bottom of the sump narrow, so that the remaining small amount of oil has some depth, or to have more oil spread over a larger area with an extended bottom.

[ayjay]

confused or wot!
The words can and worm spring to mind
Thanks for all the wise comments .There are more things to consider than I realised.
On balance it seems best to take no chances and dont "spoil the ship----etc"

Thanks all

Adrian