I need a new oil pump for my new motor. I want to go with a standard volume pump on a built 6.0L. Melling has the 10295 pump that is standard flow/high pressure. But for around $75 less Melling sells the M295 that is standard flow/standard pressure. I can buy a Melling high pressure spring kit for around $10. Is there any reason to buy the 10295 pump instead of the M295 with the spring kit? Is the 10295 higher quality?

 

A quick visit to the melling site explains the differences.
https://melling.com/parts-lookup-mak...e-part-number/

M295 is an as-cast stock replacement, with a cheaper rotor, no additional springs
10295 is hard anodized, steel rotor, 10 psi over stock with addition springs for adjustment

 

I'm pretty sure all the Melling LS oil pumps are hard anodized on the internal aluminum sufaces, and all use steel rotors. But I could be wrong......

 

Well, the specs only call the rotor "powdered metal" for the M295, while the 10295 specifically states "steel". If they are using steel on both, they should state that.

The M295 is not hard anodized.

 

Really? I thought they hard anodized all the internal aluminum surfaces.....

 

You win, the pumps are identical.

@Phobos84 contact Melling directly and do your homework.

 

Probably not needed on an LS1/6, but I had gone with a 10355 from Improved which was listed as providing uo to 10% more pressure and 33% flow increase over oem. In my case I opted for flow since I am feeding a cooler and two turbos. Otherwise, I had the 10295 in there previously.

 

FWIW
LS Gerator style pumps are way better volume wise than the old gear pumps we used to use on legacy engines.
The $82 Summit brand has M295 cast on it. Made in the USA. I have had one in my car for 25K miles and is working fine. I also shift at the stock 6000 rpm recommended limit. My low lift low lift cam power drops off at 6k rpm so need to push it past there.
Summit advertises 20-25 % more flow and when I asked in the comments in the web description for specific flow numbers they said they/Summit did not test the flow. They also say it has the stock 40 psi spring. I'm not sure how or why they say 20-25% more flow in the description? Anyway I have one in my car now. Just looking at this today, the stock Melling M295 is now less expensive than the Summit brand. That was not the case 3 years ago when I had changed my pump. Hard to look down at 6,000 rpm, but I saw 54 psi with hot oil 217° while romping on it last summer.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-121170
Stock Melling M295 says stock replacement:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mel-m295

 

Did you have to modify the front cover to make room for the 10355 oil pump? Also be careful with the 10355 pump which was designed for the DOD/AFM engines that needed the 33% more flow. In a normal LS engine, you can end up with an extra quart or so of oil being "stuck" up in the valve covers, due to the extra volume not being able to drain back down fast enough, which could result in the pickup tube sucking air during high load corning events. This is VERY true with the C6 or Camaro oil pans. A possible better choice maybe the 10296 oil pump with 18% more volume? They even make a 10355HV with 20% more flow than the 10355 for race engine with loose bearing clearances, different lifters, piston oil squirters , etc...

 

I was unaware of the HV variant. Good knowledge.

I plan to see how much total volume of oil the system will take when completed as one step. By necessity I am running a C6 pan with the turbo placement which also accommodates gravity drains from said turbos. If Improved had released their new C6 baffled pan I'd have one of those in place. Something to consider for the future down the road. I suspect I will find the balance point for this system and then run an extra half or full qt for the purposes you mentioned. When I upgrade pans in a few years I may also seek an aftermarket scraper as well. This is one which will see religious 3k oil changes.

 

That Improved racing C5/C6 pan is VERY nice (seen it in person at the PRI Show last month), those oil drain back ports would make it very handy for your turbo drain backs and it would help greatly in high load corning events vs the stock C6 pan. I have a n/a build with the stock 2-pcs factory C5 oil pan, the Improved Racing trap baffles, their oil scrapper for my specific rods, their oil pick-up tube clamp and their Spec Corvette oil cooler kit along with the 10295 pump. Total system capacity is about 8.5 quarts.

 

I have enjoyed their C5 baffles in the past and still have that pan. I sometimes question why I am holding onto it though vs selling. It takes up most of a shelf in the garage all bagged up. I do like and trust the work Improved does. The only thing I can say is that the turbo car will not be a track car. If I ever DO commit it to HPDE events I will first go back and change out the pan so those twenty minute sessions of high lateral forces will be less likely to introduce starvation. I might also consider an accusump once the car runs and all equipment has a mostly permanent placement in the car. It just is not needed yet and I have a ton of systems "in the air" as the car has been on hold for most of two years now.

The other one... I don't know if it has baffles or a good scraper or not. I have not been into that engine yet and don't plan to unless needed. I of course am curious how it was set up though since it was built to murder every exotic car in road rallies across the country and made 825whp in 2004 as a supercharged C5-R 427. The SC came out already. The intercooler comes out this weekend and that kit travels to a new owner next weekend. The cam is wild and very SC specific from a time with different ideas on what that meant versus today. It is NA and E85 currently and drives well under 2k with low throttle (AFR gauge on the dash keeps me aware), but I will be converting it to pump gas again this winter (ditching LS6 intake / bbk tb / fic 1650s for BTR intake with a silver blade and smaller FICs) and the thought keeps striking me that I really ought to swap the cam as well so it is tuned once and done. This will not be a max effort build. The engine is 9.5cr and I'd be aiming for like a Stage 1 equivalent with great valvetrain durability. Like the equivalent of the mild Hot Cam but for a 427. Just enough to get a little snap out of it but not be wild. As it is with the current largely unknown grind it runs very smoothly once warm, and especially when ripping on it, but it is a little hot for a driver.