Just run a quality filter......your oil filter is not clogged.....if you think it is, remove it and cut it open. Do not get hung up on filters like a Two Car Guy's forum.....
For oil pump use the Melling M55......do not use a High Volume pump. Use a IS55 shaft.....use a 55S3 screen/pickup......there isn't a ready to go pump/pickup assembly available due to the position of the pickup in the C3 Corvette pan. There is a tool that Summit sells to drive the pickup on.....it needs to be at least 3/8" off the bottom and checked......then you can have it brazed in a circle around the joint. A tack weld is worthless....the full round braze makes sure that no air can enter the joint.
While you have the pan off...remove a couple of main caps and rod caps......if the bearings are damaged....replacing the pump will do nothing.
Get a cheapo Oil Pressure gauge from the Parts Outlet.......use the plastic hose to hook it up so you can see the oil going through it......
I doubt you have 0 pressure as you will hear the lifters at 5 psi.......

Jebby

 

sschultz,

Please DO use a High Volume pump. It aides in cooling but does not always affect oil pressure.
Melling's has 4 pumps.

Std press / std Vol
Std press / HI Vol
HI press / std Vol
HI press / HI Vol

About the pick-up screen. Jegs has a bracket / clamp that holds the pick-up in place.
Simple, remove two screws from the pump cover, install bracket, install screws. Its fully adjustable.
Once you weld a pick-up to a pump, there is no changing your mind about the angle of the screen.

 

Jebby - thanks for the info. I’d really like to believe that I don’t truly have zero pressure but there for sure wasn’t any oil coming up through the fitting on the top rear of the block that feeds the gauge. But, as I said and you reinforced, I think I’d be hearing a ton of clattering under the hood if I truly had zero pressure. It’s all a bit mysterious right now to me.

I will look into the oil pump and shaft and screen parts you recommended. Thanks. Question: how do you confirm the height of the screen off of the bottom of the pan? Are you taking measurements with the pan off and the pump/pickup bolted in place and then estimating where the true bottom of the pan would be when installed?

You suggest pulling a few main caps and connecting rod caps to look at the bearings. As someone who has never rebuilt an engine before, will it be obvious to me if the bearings are damaged/shot? Someone else recommended using Plastic Gauge (Plastigauge?) to check the clearances. I watched a single video on using that product and it looks pretty interesting. But I don’t know what the torque specs are on the bolts for either the mains or the connecting rods and I also don’t know what the tolerances should be for the mains or the connecting rods. I’m guessing this info can be found with some googling but if someone here knows it, I’d be happy to listen.

 

Wait… should I or should I not use a high volume pump? I THINK you meant to say NOT to but it’s written as if I should.

Thanks for the insight on the bracket from Jeg’s. I’ll look into it!

 

I like high volume pumps especially for older engines. I like that it wont particularly raise pressure but it will stuff more oil into the gaps in the bearings, so worn engine will keep that oil sheer. As for Mellings they are chinese made so if you care about that you may want to go with Moroso. But you will pay a premium price for USA.

To answer your direct questions the filter adapter will open to bypass the plugged filter. I use K&N filters which have the built in bypass. As for measuring the gap take a softly rolled ball of tinfoil and tape it to the edge of the pickup. It has to be soft enough to squish. Then put the pan on without the gasket and push up on it as hard as you can to mimic it squishing the gasket. The tinfoil will fill the gap and you can use calipers to read the thickness

 

Yes indeed you can run HI Vol. But fair warning: You may loose 4 H.P.

HI Vol pumps are endorsed by all Blueprint Engines and also Eric from Vise Grip Garage.

Must be around 5 bazillion Melling's Oil Pumps out there whirling away without any issues.
And they are made in Jackson, Michigan.

 

There should be two possible locations for the oil pressure sender. If one were to apply pressurized oil to the bottom port, would it pressurize the top port, and also send oil through the appropriate pushrods? (Move the crank to test them all).

This is actually the proper way to prime the crank driven oil pump in an LS engine, and there is a port for it. I bought and modified a garden sprayer, and a barb fitting, and was able to prove that oil flowed in my engine, my mechanical gauge worked, my LS senders worked, and both stock SBC senders did NOT work.

Is doing this a valid test in an SBC?

 

from what I am seeing they are engineered in USA, but the castings are chinese and whether or not they are machined here may be another story. Wouldnt be the first time a company tried to save or make money that way, I use Moroso now

 

The bottom port on a sbc has a plug that is put in at the factory and not likely to come out easily, And pressurizing it may just force the oil out the pump. In the Gen 1 they say to rotate the crank to make sure it comess out all of the pushrods but I havent had that issue. I just did my big block a couple weeks back and a heavy duty drill and the priming tool had oil coming out everywhere. It shouldnt be an issue

 

Ah, good to know. I was hoping the OP could find another test. Sounds like spinning thr pump is the last check before dropping the pan.

 

No. They are not Chinese. Mellings takes great pride in their quality of parts..
Their web site states all their automotive products are designed, engineered and manufactured right here in the good ol' USA, Jackson, Michigan.

 

Melling pumps are pretty much the industry standard. Use the standard volume/standard pressure version unless you have reason to believe your engine is close to the end of its life with excessive bearing clearances. The high volume pump will help to make up for that. Remember the high volume pump requires a different pickup if you decide to go that route. Get the tool to install the pickup. There is no other way to do it without screwing it up that I am aware of. And braze (or weld) the pickup to the pump. Its steel to cast so the welding/brazing is beyond my skills, so I leave the choice to whoever is doing it for me. I am not familiar with bolt on pickups but the idea appeals to me. At least Loctite is something I understand. There should be a bypass in your filter adapter, although mine was removed when I built the engine at the insistence of a guy who was helping me out. He only has slightly more experience than I do with SBCs but I didn't feel it was worth the argument as it is only an issue if your filter plugs, and there is zero possibility of that. As for the filter, tests have shown that the K&N is by far the best. I use them on my Corvette and my airplane, although I won't spend that kind of money on my daily drivers.

 

Well, you are partly right about HI Vol pump pick-up.

The real expensive ones $200 do require a special 3/4 inch pick-up tube / screen.
But, the Mellings HI Vol 55HV takes the standard 0.630 tube and that pump is only $52.

 

You are correct that the standard pickup will insert in the high volume pump, but the high volume pump will make the stock pickup sit lower and interfere with the bottom of the pan. Ask me how I know. Just one of many mistakes I've made over the years. There is a different pickup for the high volume pump.

 

H-m-m-m-m-. Never heard of that.
I use the M55HV with a standard angle pick-up, no issues.
I put a chunk of Silly Putty on the screen for a test fit with a Milodon pan.

 

Another vote for standard volume and pressure. There is no reason for your engine to require a high volume pump.
I just replaced my high volume pump with a standard volume one last fall.
If you go with high volume get a bigger oil pan that has baffles.
I’m pretty sure I was draining my stock pan drag racing, which is why I went back to standard volume. It’s unnecessary for your motor in my opinion.

Unless you find excessive main bearing clearances and want to make up for it with thick oil and a HV pump vice just replacing bearings.

 

Its physically impossible for a HI Vol pump to completely empty out an oil pan.
UNLESS, the drain back holes are plugged. Then any pump would do that.

Just another false tale according to Myths & Fables, Oil Pans.

Just for the record. HI VOL pumps are not something that can suck the water out of swimming pool in a matter of minutes.
A HI VOL pump has 25% larger gears in the pump body. 25% !
That's all. Just flows a little extra.

 

sure I coulda expounded on that a little more. I don’t think it was completely draining the pan, but hard launch plus 6k rpm plus HV pump and I was seeing mild signs of oil starvation on my mains. Not sure what else would have caused it.
depending on how many passes I make this year I’ll be checking the mains this winter….I’m curious to see.

 

How many quarts is your pan....drift car guys have issues as well as guys that know better doing donuts in burnout contests...anything is possible with the wrong parts...oil starvation is a thing. If someone is going into the performance end of engine building and not considering large oil volume pans, its a recipe for disaster. Oil ia a cooling system as well as lubrication...and you need a lot of it in the pan

 

100% agree. I kept the stock pan because my ground clearance is terrible(lowered front)
but I don’t want to distract from OPs thread.
I still think/recommend standard volume and pressure oil pumps for stock oil pans