Crank scrapers
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 14,112
Likes: 28
From: Florida
Not trying to split hairs here,
but I get the 7 qt winged pans from Speedway for less than a 100 bucks, that fit perfectly, don't interfere with anything and have baffles, 7 trap doors and scrapers built in.
I only checked to make sure the scraper didn't hit anything.
Having .015 clearance is tight, forget 7 hours.
My understanding is that they merely trap the oil that is being released and slung by the rotating assembly. That should get the vast majority of it.
To demonstrate, next time you bake a cake, take the mixer out of the bowl full of batter and turn it on. Eplain to your wife you need the crank scraper.
but I get the 7 qt winged pans from Speedway for less than a 100 bucks, that fit perfectly, don't interfere with anything and have baffles, 7 trap doors and scrapers built in.
I only checked to make sure the scraper didn't hit anything.
Having .015 clearance is tight, forget 7 hours.
My understanding is that they merely trap the oil that is being released and slung by the rotating assembly. That should get the vast majority of it.
To demonstrate, next time you bake a cake, take the mixer out of the bowl full of batter and turn it on. Eplain to your wife you need the crank scraper.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 1999
Posts: 5,768
Likes: 3
From: San Diego CA
Point taken, but then you dont have to refill a scraper, how much do you have to pay to refill that bottle and over the duration of the life of the motor how many times might you do it? a scraper will last as long as your motor for a low up front cost.
Which costs less 100k miles with a scraper or 100k miles of continuous nitrous?
BTW I dont necessarily disagree, for me when building a motor I work on the assumption that every little bit helps..for the pittance one of these pieces cost and the relative ease of fitment I see no reason not to. I've seen guys blow $90 on a freakin dipstick after all so $15 and a couple of hours I can afford.
Which costs less 100k miles with a scraper or 100k miles of continuous nitrous?
I'm not saying don't do it, I'm saying that there are other mods worth more HP than a crank scraper that I myself would be putting my time into. We all know it works to some degree. If you're building a circle track car that will constantly see the drag of that extra oil then go for it. On a street car you probably wouldn't even notice it. Just my two cents.
Last edited by fauxrs; Nov 6, 2009 at 01:28 AM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 8,897
Likes: 1,357
From: Santa Ana CA
There are actually plenty of other less extreme examples such as carb spacers, heat shields, going to larger diameter tubing, bigger air cleaner, etc., your own port matching work, etc. that also pay off at better than $5/hp. Depends on how ambitious you want to be for small gains.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
Likes: 122
From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Your building these two engines instead of a 350 or a 454. You answered your own question. Your looking for power. Crank scraper is cheap, easy HP. Not much but, as toddalin said, it all adds up. The accumulated little things here and there make a difference. 3% don't sound like much but on a 330 HP engine that is 10 HP. Now it is a 340 HP engine. That 383 rotating assembly, clearancing the block, bore and hone, and balance probably set you back $1400 for maybe 70 hp tops. That doesnt count everything else and labor. That is $20+ per HP.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 535
Likes: 1
From: Darwin, Australia NT
Wow, I was worried Id not get a response on this but It looks like others are interested too.
Thank for the responses.
The 383 in particular looks like a perfect candidate for this. Its a numbers matching deal. Nitrous, holley, headers are out of the question.
Im probably putting in 5-10 hours reworking the factory iron manifold for more power. This motor is for a friend. He is spending a lot of money for something that will struggle to make 400 HP
I also assume that the bigger the motor and longer the stroke the more there is to gain so my 540 is worth doing.
I assume scrapers sit on the pass side (LHdrive) to stop oil as its picked up from the sum?
Thank for the responses.
The 383 in particular looks like a perfect candidate for this. Its a numbers matching deal. Nitrous, holley, headers are out of the question.
Im probably putting in 5-10 hours reworking the factory iron manifold for more power. This motor is for a friend. He is spending a lot of money for something that will struggle to make 400 HP
I also assume that the bigger the motor and longer the stroke the more there is to gain so my 540 is worth doing.
I assume scrapers sit on the pass side (LHdrive) to stop oil as its picked up from the sum?
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 13,015
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From: Corsicana, Tx
2020 C2 of the Year - Modified Winner
2020 Corvette of the Year (performance mods)
C2 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
2017 C2 of Year Finalist
The best thing in the world is a big 'ole box of a pan. Plenty of room for the oil to get away from the crank. I really do like the pans with the full length kickout on the right side to allow oil to leave the crank and return to the pan. You also have to look closely at strokers if they are going to rev at all. I've found that great pans that are fine on a 427 at 7500 rpm are terrible on a 540 at 6000 rpm. The crank and rods just get too close to the pan in the forward part of it.
Scrapers are great ideas IF there is someplace for the oil to go. If you peel off all the oil right there at the block edge as the rotating assy goes by it....where's it going to go? There needs to be enough room in that are of the pan to handle all you scrape and actually return to the pan. That's why the full length kickout area is good.
JIM
Scrapers are great ideas IF there is someplace for the oil to go. If you peel off all the oil right there at the block edge as the rotating assy goes by it....where's it going to go? There needs to be enough room in that are of the pan to handle all you scrape and actually return to the pan. That's why the full length kickout area is good.
JIM
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,088
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From: NC
2022 C2 of the Year Finalist - Modified
The best thing in the world is a big 'ole box of a pan. Plenty of room for the oil to get away from the crank. I really do like the pans with the full length kickout on the right side to allow oil to leave the crank and return to the pan. You also have to look closely at strokers if they are going to rev at all. I've found that great pans that are fine on a 427 at 7500 rpm are terrible on a 540 at 6000 rpm. The crank and rods just get too close to the pan in the forward part of it.
Scrapers are great ideas IF there is someplace for the oil to go. If you peel off all the oil right there at the block edge as the rotating assy goes by it....where's it going to go? There needs to be enough room in that are of the pan to handle all you scrape and actually return to the pan. That's why the full length kickout area is good.
JIM
Scrapers are great ideas IF there is someplace for the oil to go. If you peel off all the oil right there at the block edge as the rotating assy goes by it....where's it going to go? There needs to be enough room in that are of the pan to handle all you scrape and actually return to the pan. That's why the full length kickout area is good.
JIM
Second Post by Jim;
"That pan usually is worth 10-15 against most of them, but with the new Milodon changes to internal baffles they swear it was 9HP better than the version on my car. Do a search on Car Craft or Hot Rod. One of them did a back to back test with it on a mini test a while back and it did well. The higher you spin it or the longer the stroke...the better it will do."
Jim,
Will the pan that works on the 540 work good on the 427? Is it worth the change?
BILL SR
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
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From: Corsicana, Tx
2020 C2 of the Year - Modified Winner
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Unless you have some super duper pan there now...I'd say yes.
Stroker and high RPM will be helped the most, but the average 427 can get some pretty decent RPM and it would be great.
All that said, the original LS-7 pan from GM works very well too. Not like the Milodon we're talking about, but it isn't bad at all.
JIM
Stroker and high RPM will be helped the most, but the average 427 can get some pretty decent RPM and it would be great.
All that said, the original LS-7 pan from GM works very well too. Not like the Milodon we're talking about, but it isn't bad at all.
JIM
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
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From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
