Change SB OEM Oil Pan To 7 Quart. Car Sits Low

I have a 74 Chevy Custom Nova Hatchback. Will see some strip time as things are sorted out:It has a 383 stroker motor. The stock pan has very little front clearance with the cross member. The car has been lowered, thus ground clearance is of the essence. I am looking for a pan whose sump box does not exceed the clearance of the stock pan and clears the headers .I wrote to a performance shop about one of their pans but found that the sump was too deep and suggested a circle track pan:
it held 7 quarts, appeared to have the stock style front core, stock sump depth and a kick out on the left side. I wrote the pan manufacturer, who indicated it would not be a good fit most likely, but "no, why not."


Custom oil pans are available but are pricey for the vast street use the car vastly sees.


All help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Confusing post.. or maybe it's to early for my brain to engage.. 8-)

Does the lowest point of the basepan extend lower than the crossmember?

And who's basepan is on the car now? Do you know??

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Originally Posted by 34_40

Confusing post.. or maybe it's to early for my brain to engage.. 8-)

Does the lowest point of the basepan extend lower than the crossmember?

And who's basepan is on the car now? Do you know??

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I purchased the car. The original owner farmed out the build to various people. He was not one to keep track of paper work. The car has been put on a lift and it is a chrome OEM stock configured SB pan. So, yes the front of the pan depth is shallow and increases as it goes back with the usual stock sump area at the very back. Since the car is low with the previous owner putting some decent dents in it, I decided to do the pan change.

IIRC the novas bigger oil pans increased the sump forward by using a tube in the pan for the steering cross shaft to pass thru????????

And why do you think you need a 7 qt?

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Originally Posted by jerry clayton

IIRC the novas bigger oil pans increased the sump forward by using a tube in the pan for the steering cross shaft to pass thru????????

And why do you think you need a 7 qt?

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Sorry but could you clarify "IIRC the novas bigger................"

As the pan is going to be changed anyway, the larger pan was based from car forums, articles concerning the lack of sufficient oil available in the sump in a oem pan above 4500 rpm and recommendation of an engine builder in noticing the steep driveway that the car is parked on, back first that may one day starve the motor for lubrication.

I am very open to suggestions of what pan to use.

IIRC--------If I Renember Correctly

I guess you have one of those high capacity oil pumps that will pump all your oil upstairs into the valve covers???

And if the drive way that steep, you shouldn't be parking the car there-

How about using one of those oil priming pressure systems that some use especially for road racing?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jerry clayton

IIRC--------If I Renember Correctly

I guess you have one of those high capacity oil pumps that will pump all your oil upstairs into the valve covers???

And if the drive way that steep, you shouldn't be parking the car there-

How about using one of those oil priming pressure systems that some use especially for road racing?

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Yes, it does have a high volume oil pump.

Since the pan will be changed no matter what, do you have any suggestions that will give me extra oil capacity above the oem pan of only 4 quarts in the sump?

I'm sorry-------but I won't make suggestions to what pan for you to use since I didn't build your engine
However If I find some time I may do a little research later today for places for you to look

Try this:

With the car on the lift, use poster board, scissors and tape to template the sump you want. Mark the pan with a sharpie to define exactly how the cardboard sump attatches, labeling your new sump with front and back.

When you're done, pull the pan and take it to a fabrication shop. They'll use the poster board to template some steel and weld it together, after cutting the bottom out of course.

No it won't be cheap, but it will be exactly what you want.

Keep in mind, you have to leave clearance for installation and removal. I suppose you could place the pan on the cross member, lower the engine in place, then bolt in the pan, but that sounds pretty awkward to me.

I very much appreciate all the feed back on this post but would like to narrow it down that goes back to the circle track oil pan brought up very early. If it has all the dimensions allowing it to fit "properly" and the needed oil pick-up and pump are installed, why would it not work?

I realize certain pan configuration do not work for cross application but would like to understand what I am not seeing with this pan.

Thank you

just keep in mind that if your doing this because you park on a hill---that no matter what pan you use-----the oil will be at the front and your pump at the rear------Measure the angle of the parking spot------


And as for the circle track pan-that's a competition pan app and probably has an elaborate windage tray/trap door layout so it will be better at getting high rpm oil sling off the rotating parts back into the sump. Since the Nova was never a road race type car, I doubt if you would find many comp style pans to fit that crossmember/steering set up-------

IIRC, I think that you can reverse your spindles and install a rack and pinion steering gear for front steer that will give you more clearance by getting rid of that OEM steering cross shaft link .

I like firebird77clone's suggestion above, as I did the same thing years ago. I would not recommend starting with a chrome pan, however, as those pieces are usually from an offshore source. I'd begin with a stock Chevy pan....one made originally by General Motors. I also like Denny's suggestion of a remote dual filter arrangement. I've used the Trans-Dapt dual filter units on several engine swap projects and they work great. Use premium Wix filters or the best offering from NAPA, which is made by Wix.

While you're in there anyway, this would be a good time to insure that the pickup is the proper distance (3/8" to 1/2") from the bottom of the oil pan. Go to a hobby or craft store and get some of that gray oil-based modeling clay. Some fellows will use Play-Doh, but I have found that it will not hold its shape like oil-based modeling clay. Clean off the bottom of the pickup with solvent so that the clay will stick to it. Make a little cone of clay (shaped like an indian teepee and about an inch high) and smush the big end of your teepee down onto the pickup. Oil the teepee so that the clay will not stick to the bottom of the oil pan. Fit the pan into place and bring it to seated with a few bolts in it. Remove the pan and measure how proud the clay sits up off the pickup.

If the pickup is too close to the bottom of the pan, it is possible for the pump to suck the sheet metal of the bottom of the pan up against the bottom of the pickup and shut off oil supply to the pump. If the pickup is too far away from the bottom of the pan, then you could run the motor out of oil under operation.

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My two cents..
Just my opinion but, I haven't yet seen any good reason to not use the stock pan. Just a few trips down the strip is NOT a good reason.
A 7 quart pan is helpful if you're haulin' down the highway for hours on end.. otherwise just use the stock pan, and save yourself a whole pile of work / trouble..

Again, just my opinion.. like a belly button, everyone has one.

After some thought, took up the suggestion of a dual oil filter kit. However. after looking at the limited space on the driver's side already taken up with other goodies but measured around anyway as not to try, it would not work.

Phoned a friend who is a Ford guy, but has a source that will build a modified pan. Puts it on a lift, takes the measurements for the new sump, takes a new oem pan for modification( hill inclines, capacity etc.) plus adds the baffles, doors. Kick outs on both sides instead of one as on the circle track.


However, the circle track pan is definitely still in play. Located a forum that this application is being used on their street cars due to ground clearance issues.

As the old "beat-up" pan was coming out regardless, I now have the option of custom or modified.

I again thank everyone for taking their time for the input on this.