papabear

I have been reading the threads and learning alot here. I have a question regarding the oil pans for the Ford. I have yet to see anyone use a oil pan other than the modified stock one. Would a Canton or other type of aftermarket pan work? Looking at the dimensions on Cantons site I can't see where the front sump could be much larger than the modified stock pan.



But I have never seen a measurement on the stock pan to verify this. I just figured the Canton would give better oil control on a tracked car. I look forward to you opinions.

5.0MX5

"I have yet to see anyone use a oil pan other than the modified stock one."

I can't speak to a tracked car's oil control needs....but many of us run stock "unmodified" oil pans. Now that may only be possible with a carbed setup or one of the carb looking fuel injection systems which may give more hood clearance than the factory fi.

RR

papabear

What front subframe are you running? I know the monster miata subframe has to modify the pan for steering rack clearance. I really am thinking of doing a mountless v8 roadsters tubular subframe and seeing how the canton oil pan works. I need to make as much clearance as I can for headers so I think tubular will help in that regard as I can offset the engine for steering shaft and header position.
My plan at this point is not stock Fuel Injection but the Holley Terminator EFI. I know I am going to run into different challenges as all this is going into a Exocet and not a Miata. But I am more familiar with Ford engines so I really want to go this route.

cvx_20

It's not the subframe per se that interferes, it's the steering rack no matter what subframe you use. So assuming the rack is in the stock location, modifying the pan to drop the engine will allow more clearance at the hood/intake interface.

There are some rudimentary dimensions using a stock pan on the blog.

MiataV8 Conversion: Modified Ford 302 oil pan



Mike

papabear

Thanks for posting the picture of how you modified your pan. Looking at your measurements that why I think the canton will work. If you look at it's front sump measurements It starts to go vertical behind the pump at about the same location as the modified pan. Guess the only real way to find out is to try it.

Your build blog is the one that gave me the idea to try and get the tubular subframe done for the 302. The way your mock up works with the headers and steering looks just spot on to me.

charchri4

Gonna watch this thread and hope the pan works!

MRM331

About 10 years ago a builder in DE, Tony LaBoy managed to get a stock pan and a stock fuel injection manifold under a stock hood. I'mnot sure exactly how he did it but he did modify his own subframe. Every other stock pan build I've seen and even worked on has been carborated, most with a non-stock hood. If you mount the engine slightly forward and up you can center the hump over the rack. Note that the higher and farther forward the engine is the worse effect on handling though...

-Jason

charchri4

Seems to me my 84 Stang had the option of 5.0 with a carb on the GTs or 5.0 with some sort of injection on the LX cars. I think it was some sort of throttle body set up. Anyone know what that is and is it lower?

movieboy4fun

charchri4
That would be F0RD's CFI Unit ( Central Fuel Injection ), if memory is correct, found on 80 - 85 Lincoln MK VI, 84-85 Mustang AOD only, standard was 4BBL. NOT a performance item, was used on the LOPO 165 180 HP 302's. I do believe its a touch lower than a carb.

Hope this helps
Dean0

sebz

I run the stock oil pan, it will clear the Hood with 89-93 intake and a manual steering rack. But not the RPM2 Intake. Hope that help.

engineer

Hood clearance and oil pan issues get worse with a stroker engine. As the oil pan needs a bit more pan depth (extra 0.25 in for 331 or 0.4 inch for 347) just over the steering rack area...which makes the engine sit a bit higher, which makes hood clearance evaporate to zero fast...i had to drop my subframe 10mm and enlarge my Miata hood "bubble" slightly to make it all fit...I am using a rather tall TFS R intake (11 inches high) and it was the TPS switch that hit the hood...it only clears now by 3 mm

Next time i will build it with a Borla ITB setup to get some of the clearance back....might sound better too

2002LSCLE

I don't see where this thread reached a conclusion. Has anyone successfully used an aftermarket SBF front / rear sump oil pan that allowed similar steering rack clearance to the modified stock pan? I thought I would ask before I start welding baffles into a stock pan. Thanks.

trueblue1968

It really depends on how you are going to route and make your exhaust.
See my build and oilpan change up.

engineer

You can use an aftermarket pan but you will need to raise the engine on the mounts a little higher to clear the steering rack. But doing that you then run into hood clearance issues. Especially with aftermarket EFI intakes.

I have a custom subframe (Monster miata) and the clearance between the stock pan and the steering rack is very tight, An aftermarket pan will definitely foul here with the engine in the same position You can use the aftermarket (i.e. CANTON) versions of the fox oil pan but you will need to cut and weld the middle section down a little to clear the rack.

I could not find a suitable off the shelf oil pan from any aftermarket supplier that would clear and fit the car.....so I had Monster Miata supply me a modified oil pan.

I would go with modifying the stock pan as the aftermarket versions will almost certainly need the same work on them to clear the steering rack.

Cheers

2002LSCLE

Thanks much for the input. Based on this and observations, I plan to modify the stock pan, add some baffling inside, and go with a remote filter and cooler so I can add some additional oil volume. Thanks much for posting!
Bryan