Thread: 454 or 460?

Tweet

Originally Posted by Paul Kane

chopped66impala,

Where an oil pump is on a Ford engine is of little concern relative to its oiling capabilities, as they use a gerotor oil pump...unlike the chevy which has the more cavitation-prone spur gear oil pump. Good thing that GM puts that pump DEEP in the oil sump and practically submerged in the oil....but they are still way more prone to cavitation just the same.

What matters most (in your provided g-force scenario above) is not where the oil pump is but actually where the oil pump's PICKUP is. And a Ford can utilize a pickup tube that extends to the rear, too, just look at the selection of rear pickup applicable performance oil pans for the Fords. And, I can personally tell you that in drag racing we have used 1-1/16" OD pickup tubes from the front mounted oil pump to the rear of the pan, with blown alcohol power and big gummy drag slick g-forces, and even with such a huge pickup tube did not experience any oil pressure issues drawing that big column of oil from the pan. (Again, this is more likely to be an issue with the GM spur gear pump, though).

So, the Ford has the oil pump next to the timing chain where it belongs and can also draw oil from the rear of the pan like any other engine out there. Best of both worlds.

Paul

p.s. Interesting dry sump story: Up until 2001 even some Top Fuel cars were still running internal oil pumps, and they only reason those guys went dry sump is because NHRA announced they'd start fining teams for oiling down the track with a catastrophic engine failure...at which point those teams determined the price of upgrading to a dry sump system was less than the fine for oiling down the track.

Paul while your on the oil pump here, My engine rebuilder put in a mellings high volume oil pump on my long block rebuild. I've heard a million thought pro and con on these and wondered your opinion on my mild build, weekend cruiser 460 with DOVE-C heads? Have heard they can where the distributer gear down from one guy, never heard that before, esp, since it drives the pump with a shaft!