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Engine Assembly Tips
Oil control in the pan, lifter valley, and rocker arm valley is necessary. First and foremost, an
engine needs some lubrication to keep parts from wearing out and to reduce friction. Oil also helps
remove heat from a given part and transfer it to a place where the heat can be dissipated. In a
vehicle with a wet sump system that is accelerating quickly or turning, the oil level in the sump must
be kept around the oil pump pickup tube and screen. Otherwise, the forces of acceleration or
turning will push the oil in the wet sump to the rear of the pan or to the sides of the pan. A way to
deal with this is with oil pan baffles, which help keep oil around the oil pump pickup and prevent the
pickup from becoming uncovered and sucking in air. If the pump starts sucking air, the pressure
from the pump drops, the pump pushes air instead of oil (or a combination of the two), and your
engine doesn’t get the lubrication it needs.
Connecting rods with rod bolt protectors installed Torquing the connecting rod bolts with feeler gauges installed
Rod bolt protectors eliminate the possibility of nicking
or gouging the crankshaft when installing the pistons.
Many bearing sets include a pair of plastic rod bolt
booties, or you can improvise by slipping short
lengths of rubber hose over the bolts. Threaded
pieces of aluminum tubing are more elegant, and can
help guide the rod onto its journal.
When torquing down the connecting
rod bolts, insert two feeler gauge strips
between the adjacent rods. This aligns
the rod caps and forks, and ensures
that each pair of rods will retain the
same side clearance dimension that
was measured during engine
preassembly.
A number of lubrication systems are available, but by far the most common is called a wet sump
system. Oil is held in a sump (the oil pan), and an oil pump pickup is submerged in the oil, sending
it through a system of oil galleries to the different parts of the engine.
Removing soft lead plating from and engine bearing with scotchbrite
Modern engine bearings are overplated with extremely thin
coatings of various metals. The top protective layer is
generally a soft lead, which improves the insert’s embed
ability, or tolerance to small metal particles. In high output
engines, this top coating has a tendency to smear across the
bearing face, which is why many engine builders remove it by
polishing the bearing with fine Scotchbrite – despite the fact
that bearing manufacturers frown on this practice. Removing
this lead layer has a negligible effect on bearing clearance.
Another type of system is referred to as a dry sump system. In a dry sump, the oil pan is very
shallow; the oil pumps are mounted externally and are usually driven by a belt system off of the
crank pulley. Oil that reaches the pan is sucked out by one or more scavenge pumps and sent to
an external canister tank where it is stored. Here, any air that has been sucked in with the oil is
separated. Another pump then sends pressurized oil back to the engine. Each system has its
advantages and disadvantages.

The oil pan baffling in a wet sump system can be in various configurations and pan baffling can
be chosen depending on the type of racing a vehicle is used for. Circle track, road racing, or
drag racing dictates where the baffling should be in the pan.
Wet sump oil pan with baffle and crankshaft scraper
Choose a wet sump oil pan with
baffling in the sump. Trapdoors, deep
sumps, scrapers, and windage screens
help control oil movement, and keep
the pump pickup submerged in oil at all
times. Different pans are available for
road, circle track, and drag racing. Not
only do you ensure oil pressure, but
also the reduction of crankcase
windage can build more power.
You can increase the depth of a wet sump pan in an effort to get more oil capacity, but a number of
things have to be considered. How much ground clearance will the deeper pan have? What is the
front suspension of the vehicle like? Frame cross members, the exhaust system, or other parts may
dictate the maximum size and location of the pan sump.

In a dry sump system, since the pan is usually very shallow, ground clearance is not a problem. In
fact, the vehicle ride height can usually be lowered farther. Many of these racecars have altered or
aftermarket front suspensions and tube frames so that pan clearance is not a problem and a
full-length sump pan can be used. Scavenge lines are connected to the pan and sometimes to the
lifter valley to remove oil from the engine.
Reducing crankcase windage is another goal in a race motor. Oil draining back onto a spinning
crankshaft can cause the loss of horsepower on a high-rpm motor, so that part of the windage
control effort is spent reducing oil drain back onto the crank and through crank scrapers, windage
trays, and screens to remove or reduce the amount of oil clinging to the spinning crankshaft. Oil
pan “kickouts” also help direct oil in the pan away from the crank and down the side to the bottom
of the pan.

Oil restrictors can be used that limit the amount of oil circulated to the rocker arms, and therefore
limit the amount of oil that drains back toward the crankcase. Oil galley restrictors should only be
used with roller bearing rockers arms and not used with hydraulic lifters or production stamped
rocker arms and rocker arm balls. Crankshaft counterweights can be “knife-edged” or “wing”
shaped so that less oil clings to them and so that the oil is directed from the counterweight to
bearing surfaces (to help lubricate them) and to the bottom or sides of the pan. In engine blocks
with oil drain back holes in the lifter valley, you can plug or block the drainback holes so that oil
drains back to the pan from the timing cover or the rear drain hole, thereby reducing the amount of
oil getting onto the spinning crank and rods.
Using a small nut to shim the oil pressure relief spring in an oil pump
If oil is the lifeblood of an engine, then the oil
pump must be its heart. In Chevrolet V-8s (and
many other engines), oil pressure is regulated by
the stiffness of the bypass relief spring. The
difference between standard production and
high-performance pumps is often just the
resistance of this bypass spring. To increase oil
pressure, you can install a stiffer spring, or shim
the existing spring with small nuts or washers. If
you choose to add shims, make certain that the
valve does not block the bypass passage when
the spring is fully compressed.
One of the differences in wet or dry sump systems is the price. Wet sump systems are cheaper.
The dry systems are more expensive and require the use of external pumps, scavenge and
pressure lines, oil tanks, line filters, and lots of high quality fittings. The question then becomes how
much can you spend? Other questions include what kind of room do you have in the engine
compartment? How much ground clearance does the pan require? Can you use a pan with a
full-length sump? What kind of racing are you going to do?
The oil pump pickup for a wet sump lubrication
system should be adjusted so that it is 1/4- to
3/8-inch from the bottom of the pan. This
clearance can be checked by placing a ball of
clay over the pickup, installing the pan, and
then measuring the thickness of the
compressed clay after the pan is removed.
Stock-type tubular pickups can be adjusted by
turning the pickup in the pump body; then fix
the pickup in place by brazing or epoxying the
tube to the pump. (If you braze the pickup in
place, be sure to remove the bypass spring
first so the heat of the welding torch will not
affect the tension.) Aftermarket oil pump
pickups can be adjusted by inserting spacers
between the pump and the rear main cap.
Disassembled engine oil pump
Previous


This has been a sample page from

Engine Blueprinting The Step-By-Step Guide to Engine Blueprinting
by Rick Voegelin
Practical Methods for Racing and Rebuilding
How to buy machine shop work
Selecting and preparing parts
This completely revised and updated version containing an
additional 32 pages is simply the best book you can buy on
engine preparation for street or racing! Rick Voegelin's highly
acclaimed combination of savvy writing and wrenching skills puts
this best-seller in a class by itself. All important preparation
techniques are clearly illustrated and explained in this easy-to-
read text. Engine Blueprinting shows the reader how to use
precision measuring tools, calculate compression ratios, degree a
camshaft, and much more! Loaded with helpful advice, this book
should be in every enthusiast's tool box.
Click below to view sample
pages from each chapter.
"Rick Voegelin's book, The Step-by-Step Guide to Engine
Blueprinting, is an excellent source of performance-oriented
engine building information for the beginner and the seasoned
veteran alike. This digest should be in every enthusiast's greasy
mitts."
-- Steve Magnante, HOT ROD
Chap. 1 - Engine Blueprinting
Chap. 2 - Cylinder Block
Chap. 3 - Crankshaft
Chap. 4 - Connecting Rods
Chap. 5 - Pistons
Chap. 6 - Cylinder Heads
Chap. 7 - Camshaft
Chap. 8 - Compression Ratio
Chap. 9 - Balancing
Chap. 10 - Assembly Tips
Softbound
8-3/8 x 10-7/8
160 pages
400 b/w photos
Item #SA21
Price: $18.95
Click here to buy now!

 
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1965 Ford Shop Manual CD
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