400 SBC oil pan question..What quart size of pan do I need?
 

I am building a 400 small block for my G body malibu. The motor is a 10 to 1 compession motor with Sportsmen 2 heads 6500 rpm max. It will spend most of its time on the street with a visit or 2 a year to the strip.

Question is what quart size oil pan do I need? Do I need a pan with a wedge tray? I am going to run a high volume oil. I just dont what to over kill with a big pan if I dont need it.

Thanks

i have a regular 5 qt on mine with a high vol pump but it depends on how much oil you want available if its a street car i dont see why the 5 qt would impead anything, mines in a jeep wrangler thats a toy, weekend street type application

Anything over stock deserves more pan. I have used Milodon 7 qt. pans with great success through the years...I also like the bulletproof Milodon oil pumps....
http://www.milodon.com/oil-pans/stre...ns-sbchevy.asp

That's what I was thinking but didn't know what to call it. Now I do! :D

I agree with techinspector. At high rpm with high volume pump a lot of oil stays up in the motor so you need more capacity to draw from in the pan.A windage tray or a crank scraper is also a good idea as it helps return the oil to the pan quicker and cuts down on parasitic loss from the oil clinging to parts. ( could be considered neglegible)

Why a high volume pump??

High rpm sheds oil fast so you need to keep up with demand.Cant have your babbitts going hungry

same setup I have now on my 406

I use a Z/28 oil pan and windage tray and a High pressure Z/28 oil pump in my 69 Chevelle. I had to slot the windage tray in order to fit the main bearing bolts stud. In a 400 sbc it's slightly wider apart. The Z/28 windage tray would not fit right in.
In a Z/28 oil pan the gap between oil pan and timing chain cover was much wider. You need a thicker gasket.

I was going to use high volume Miladon pump for a little insurance? Or do I need a high pressure or a stock pump

This question about oil pumps has been beaten to death...and "latech" is this guy REALLY going to be driving around the street at 6500 rpm all the time?? To each his own, but on a mild performance STREET engine a stock pan and Melling M-55 will work just fine. The HV/HP pumps just eat more hp to turn them and it just puts added pressure and wear on the cam gear. Now If you have the money and just want the looks of a Moroso type dual kick out pan then by all means........MHO