ok the basics, as in most decisions concerning engine components theres some compromises made due to clearances, cost and durability issues, your goal is to maintain the maximum possible volume of oil over the oil pump pick-up in the engines oil sump while preventing the spinning crank assembly from whipping oil in the sump into a froth or dragging oil around with its rotation in the crank case while efficiently directing return oil flow back into the sump for fast effective reuse. generally if your working on a basically stock engine, you want the oil level on the dipstick to indicate the oils about 1.5 inches up into the crank counter weights , on any new oil pan, maximum and just touching their lower edge is preferred, many guys use the lower edge of the main caps as a good compromise, measurement on a BASICALLY STOCK non running engine, so you measure how far down the crank counter weights are below the oil pan rails, and mark the dipstick at the correct level when the pans off or you throw caution to the wind and take the manufacturers capacity as the true volume.
keep in mind a stock oil pan normally holds 4-5 quarts and a race oil pan holds 6-8 quarts so the oil level drops significantly more on a stock pan with its limited capacity when theres 2 quarts in the upper engine.
because once the engine starts it sucks about 2 quarts or more into the upper engine and you want to maintain a minimum of about 3 or more quarts around the oil pump pick up so even if the new pans rated at lets say 7 quarts a bit of measuring won,t hurt, , you don,t want the crank acting like a huge spinning oil pump impeller so you want to keep the oil level, both deep enough in the sump that the oil constantly covers the oil pump pick-up, even under hard acceleration and braking when the oil tends to slosh away from the pick-up, due to inertial forces and shallow enough that the spinning crank won,t act like the huge spinning oil pump impeller that it can potentially can be.
remember the goal is to maintain consistent oil pressure on the bearings and moving parts and oil flow rates that cool those parts without having the oil level high enough to cause a horsepower loss by pumping excessive oil around in the crank case
On a race engine you want the level to be at the lower edge of the windage screen on a non running engine, because once the engine starts it sucks about 2 quarts or more into the upper engine, leaving room for very effective oil shear into the sump, and less turbulence and oil foam in the oil pan. introducing oil with air foam into the bearings hurts durability
heres a better than stock design
those are counter productive goals unless your using a well designed baffled oil pan and a windage screen, because you really want to have both decent ground clearance and 6-8 quarts of oil in the system to cool and lubricate the engines moving components, the 6-8 quarts of oil needs to remain fairly close to the crank, due to the engine to road proximity so clearance can be an issue and theres only limited space to extend the sump out to the sides, so a windage screen is used to significantly reduce the influence of the spinning crank on the sumps oil reserve, over the oil pump pick-up as it shears off the spinning oil whipped around the crank case and directs it into the sump efficiently.
remember that the operating engine has about 2-2.5 quarts flowing thru the oil passages and flowing back thru the lifter gallery, and valve cover areas at higher rpms.
pans like this help isolate the oil from the crank
notice the add mark is at the level of the windage screen lower edge which is ideal, but not required as the oil level drops about 1.5" in a running engine compared to a non-running engine
the combo of these two components, (a baffled pan with extra capacity kick outs and a windage screen) and an oil pan similar to this
will provide better oil control
READ THRU THESE RELATED THREADS
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=64&p=1394#p1394
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=52
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=1280
keep in mind a stock oil pan normally holds 4-5 quarts and a race oil pan holds 6-8 quarts so the oil level drops significantly more on a stock pan with its limited capacity when theres 2 quarts in the upper engine.
because once the engine starts it sucks about 2 quarts or more into the upper engine and you want to maintain a minimum of about 3 or more quarts around the oil pump pick up so even if the new pans rated at lets say 7 quarts a bit of measuring won,t hurt, , you don,t want the crank acting like a huge spinning oil pump impeller so you want to keep the oil level, both deep enough in the sump that the oil constantly covers the oil pump pick-up, even under hard acceleration and braking when the oil tends to slosh away from the pick-up, due to inertial forces and shallow enough that the spinning crank won,t act like the huge spinning oil pump impeller that it can potentially can be.
remember the goal is to maintain consistent oil pressure on the bearings and moving parts and oil flow rates that cool those parts without having the oil level high enough to cause a horsepower loss by pumping excessive oil around in the crank case
On a race engine you want the level to be at the lower edge of the windage screen on a non running engine, because once the engine starts it sucks about 2 quarts or more into the upper engine, leaving room for very effective oil shear into the sump, and less turbulence and oil foam in the oil pan. introducing oil with air foam into the bearings hurts durability
heres a better than stock design
those are counter productive goals unless your using a well designed baffled oil pan and a windage screen, because you really want to have both decent ground clearance and 6-8 quarts of oil in the system to cool and lubricate the engines moving components, the 6-8 quarts of oil needs to remain fairly close to the crank, due to the engine to road proximity so clearance can be an issue and theres only limited space to extend the sump out to the sides, so a windage screen is used to significantly reduce the influence of the spinning crank on the sumps oil reserve, over the oil pump pick-up as it shears off the spinning oil whipped around the crank case and directs it into the sump efficiently.
remember that the operating engine has about 2-2.5 quarts flowing thru the oil passages and flowing back thru the lifter gallery, and valve cover areas at higher rpms.
pans like this help isolate the oil from the crank
notice the add mark is at the level of the windage screen lower edge which is ideal, but not required as the oil level drops about 1.5" in a running engine compared to a non-running engine
the combo of these two components, (a baffled pan with extra capacity kick outs and a windage screen) and an oil pan similar to this
will provide better oil control
READ THRU THESE RELATED THREADS
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=64&p=1394#p1394
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=52
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=1280