427ci LS2 sleeved, dry sump oil pump, engine build & install, 69 Camaro

[DaleTx]

Originally Posted by garickman

Can't wait to see those updates! Very inspirational and informative thread.

Thank you, appreciate it

Originally Posted by waynieZ

Nice job on the install and the write up.

Thank you Wayne

Originally Posted by 96z28ss

I was at Tim's today when he called you, I wanted to come check out the car.

Sorry I missed you guys... Next time your out this way definitely give me a call and stop by. Bring your car to.

[Flash68]

Originally Posted by DaleTx

Yeah I worded that wrong... I used a 3.5 gallon tank that is mounted in the trunk. The tank was custom built to my specs by Stef's (see link below). I chose one of their standard dirt track tanks (part No. 4155) and had them modify it. They sent me a drawing of the stock tank and then I marked up the drawing and changed the width slightly so I could get 3.5 gallons. My tank holds 3.5 gallons when half full.

The tanks are very well made and engineered correctly with special internal baffles and plates designed to deaerate the oil. A.C. Nutter (my engine builder) helped me to size the tank. He has lots of experience with dry sump systems and he said to use a 3 to 4 gallon tank minimum if it's mounted in the trunk. The advantage to running larger tanks is that the oil has more time to deareate before getting pumped back into the engine.

I have had good results with this set up. I installed a 4 stage dry sump pump, plumbing, and tank set up in the car last August and have run the car on the street since then, and one HPDE track day last September with no oiling problems. My oil pressure is about 40 psi at idle and 60 psi when cruising.


I started with tank #4155 under "custom dry sump tank assemblies". Stef'sdoes the custom tanks all the time... very good guys to work with. I decide to mount the tank in the trunk so I could keep things cleaner looking under the hood and I wanted to keep the battery, ECM, and fuel pump controller up in the right front of the car for easy access and better cooling.

Thanks Dale. Very cool clean setup.

You say your tank holds 3.5 gallons when half full. That can't be right. You must be 3.5 gallons if it was 100% full, yes?

I am going with a minimum of 4 gallons myself as well per 95% of the recommendations I have sought out and for trunk position. I also will have a cell to deal with but I see you have a factory type fuel tank. I envy you!

Again, very nice setup and thanks for passing on the info. I may end up doing a custom shaped tank like you as well.

[DaleTx]

Originally Posted by Flash68

Thanks Dale. Very cool clean setup.

You say your tank holds 3.5 gallons when half full. That can't be right. You must be 3.5 gallons if it was 100% full, yes?

I am going with a minimum of 4 gallons myself as well per 95% of the recommendations I have sought out and for trunk position. I also will have a cell to deal with but I see you have a factory type fuel tank. I envy you!

Again, very nice setup and thanks for passing on the info. I may end up doing a custom shaped tank like you as well.

Thanks Flash!

When I first put oil in my dry sump system (after draining completely) I use a total of 3.5 gallons of oil… I dump one quart into the new oil filter and then add 13 quarts of oil in the tank in the trunk. I have a bung on the side of the oil tank with a removable plug at the halfway point so I know when the tank is half full. After adding the 13 quarts into the tank the oil just starts to come out the hole. Some of the oil added to the tank goes into the pressure line going to the pump… so this accounts for some of the oil volume.

So the tank in the trunk is half full with 3.5 gallons of oil in the system with a fresh oil change. The reason the tank is run only half full is to allow for variations in the oil level. As the RPM of the engine increase the volume of oil returning to the tank increases. If I run more than 14 quarts of oil in the system then I start seeing oil in my remote breather tank. It’s kind of a balancing act… you want to make sure you always have a head of oil in the tank to supply the pressure section of the pump… and you need to have a tank with enough capacity to allow for variations of oil volume at the tank during low and high RPM operation.

I am no expert on dry sump systems but I did research and took advice from people who design dry sump systems, and have experience running dry sump systems, and this is what they recommended for running a dry sump system with the tank mounted in the trunk. I have run the engine on the street and also wide open on the track and everything is working well. For extra piece of mind… I installed a warning light (pressure switch) that turns on if the oil pressure drops below 18psi… so far I have never seen the light come on.


Here is a picture that shows the bung and brass plug at the halfway point on the oil tank.



Your car project is very cool... i like it

[Ron in SoCal]

Killer Dale. Can you show how you routed the lines from the trunk forward?

[DaleTx]

Originally Posted by Ron in SoCal

Killer Dale. Can you show how you routed the lines from the trunk forward?

Thanks Ron... I know that you are at this stage of your build to start plumbing your dry sump oil system. It's a lot of extra work but well worth it knowing the engine will get a good supply of oil while running wide open and cornering hard out on the track

Look forward to seeing you get that 427" fired up.

[DaleTx]

For the dry sump oil pump I used a NRC 4 stage Pro Series pump. I could have gone with a 3 stage to simplify the plumbing... but the extra scavenge stage creates about 10 inches HG of vacuum in the engine and gives you a little extra HP (about 15 HP in my engine). The 4 stage pump has one pressure section and three scavenge sections.

The pump is mounted to my engine block using a billet aluminum mounting bracket that bolts to the factory mount holes on the LS block. I worked with the engine builder to test the mounting bracket before I installed the engine in the car. He made some adjustments to the bracket design until the pump was in the exact right position to clear the sub frame... and allow for adjustment of the cog belt drive.








A.C. loaned me this busted up block to use for testing the fit of the pump and mounting bracket.







To drive the pump we used a Manley forged crank that had an extended nose designed for mounting the cog pulley.




The pump has a nice rigid mounting bracket.





The line on the left is the pressure line and goes into a port at the back of the engine behind the valley cover.
The line on the right is the scavenge return line that goes to the oil tank mounted in the trunk.







For the oil pan the engine builder purchased a Canton pan and then customized it by adding extra clearance for the rod bolts, and adding the 3 scavenge ports.
There is one scavenge port on the right side of the pan and two on the left side.




I'll show all the routing of the plumbing in another post tomorrow.

[DaleTx]

Originally Posted by Sieg

A garage really need a little pizazz don't you think?

I drove out to Sieg's house last Saturday and picked up a brand new KTM dirt bike that he was nice enough to get me a deal on… and he picked it up at the KTM dealership for me. Thanks again Scott! It was great to meet you and check out your car and workshop (not to mention Rev and Tucker!).

Greg Weld wheeled through town earlier in the day with his new big rig to visit with Scott and I just missed him by a few hours. I was hoping to meet him and see the new rig while I was there.


Now I have a bit of color in my garage with the new dirt bike




I’ve met a few Lat-G members now since joining this forum…. maybe there could be a local track day get together sometime in the future.

[Ron in SoCal]

You KTM vinyl top guys gotta stick together

Dale part one above was great. Looking forward to part two!

[Sieg]

Now that garage looks Proper! Good deal all the way around Dale. Look forward to the next time.

Ron must have confused KTM with KY

[Ron in SoCal]

KY - happens all the time lol