The 6 Quart Oil Pan Spacer - Gen 2
 

As I was going down the oil pan path, I got sidetracked designing this part. As simple as it is, aside from increasing total capacity to a US friendly 6 quarts even, it has the potential to moderately improve some other things...

The vertical wall at the front can potentially decrease slosh going into the timing cover under hard braking and right-hand turns. The vertical side-walls potentially decreasing the effects from slosh.

The 3X increase in distance from the bottom of the pan decreases the probability of sucking up some of the dreaded silicone.

The increased capacity has the obvious effect of decreasing oil temps some.

While the spacer does increase the distance to the bottom of the pan, the spacer is at the top (where the area is largest), it will also increase the oil level at the pickup when the engine is running too. In theory, this will contribute to improvements in oiling, as there will be more oil in the bottom section of the pan, where it is held closest to the pickup.

Has two ports: (1) NPT, (1) BSPT, for turbo drain back or oil temp sensor.

I hadn't initially considered going down this road, but it has the potential to add a moderate improvement in oiling performance for WAY less money than our oil pan. What price? Too early to say, but if the machining time isn't too bad to carve down a chunk of billet, we might be able to hit the $149 mark.

Thoughts, feedback, and comments welcomed.

https://killerbmotorsports.sharepoin...VXv-w?e=ga6Nqm

Cool idea :)

Where are the ports at in the spacer? If installing a temp sensor, would you expect it to have relatively stable readings?

Thanks!

If you look on the front side, you can just make out the two ports. As far as stability, I can't say. The ports should be submerged under most conditions.

I see the ports. Do you foresee any issues with stock exhaust manifold/headers with the ports there?

Anticipated clearance to the lower engine cover?

I'm excited to see this and totally in at projected price point.

What would you do to extend the pickup to make use of the extra oil depth? Doesn’t the timing cover need to come off to remove the pickup?

Couple of suggestions:

1) Add three more ports. One for an aftermarket oil temperature gauge and two to install an oil cooler heat exchanger hard line inside the spacer plate where one could connect an aftermarket oil cooler and pump with a small reservoir to circulate cooling fluid, such as water/antifreeze or even engine oil through the lines.

2) Design the spacer plate to take a gasket on the top side and a gasket on the bottom side with a heavy duty aluminum oil pan retaining ring that sandwiches the oil pan sealing surface between it and the spacer. Basically, eliminate the need for using high temp sealant altogether when it concerns these oil pan components. You'll have to design and supply the two gaskets, of course, but this would at least eliminate one of the many headaches and sources of potential RTV clogging while making it user serviceable for the future.

3) New product to sell: Oil Pan Gasket Kits

The oil level would not change, you would add extra oil to compensate for the increased volume that the spacer provides. Just monitor your oil level as you always would.

The reason nobody wants to use a gasket is because they are much more prone to leaking. Unless you can tighten every bolt down at the same time, it can be a pain.

So far, no, but we haven't engine mounted it yet. According to my scans, it should all fit with some clearance. It's obviously less, but the Suby engine/mount setup doesn't typically allow for much movement downward. The engine mostly tips from one side and moves forward.


You may have missed the details I laid out in the OP. The level around the pickup increases because the pickup is in a smaller area than the spacer. So even though the pickup is higher from the bottom, the oil level becomes even deeper than that height. A benefit of this, is less likelihood of sucking up broken off pieces of silicone.

There are two ports there already. There's physically not enough space to make ports for doing a proper oil cooler setup.


Been there, done that. They don't work for a number of reasons. The pans aren't that flat and too flimsy, the FA sealing surface is too small, the bolts are too far apart, etc., etc... We've done o-rings, rubber, and cork. I would recommend none, unless you are removing the pan a LOT. When I say a lot I mean after six rally stages, or after a few drag passes... stuff like that. We do use them, but ONLY for short term stuff, like oil product testing where the pan comes off every 6 dyno pulls and that would happen a dozen times over a week. We use them then as a time saver, but they do not hold up much beyond that.

Another benefit I didn't state in my OP, is that this spacer is very thick and is going to have machined surfaces. You can use FAR less sealant when installing the spacer, and also inspect to see how much has oozed into the inside. Additionally, you could use your finger and remove and excess that oozed inward if you wanted to. The spacer also has a wider sealing surface than the block, which should mean a better seal with potentially less sealant.

Correct!


Very true!

Even if you could tighten them all together (which is how the factory does it BTW), the design is just not well suited for it. Too little sealing surface on the block, too flimsy (and not very flat) of and oil pan, with bolts too far apart. It just doesn't work. It's one of those things that sounds good in theory, but in practice just does not work.

If i was in that situation i would just run drop the pan for a baffle and clean out the rtv. Seems like it is over complicating things. Baffle + pickup + sandwich plate for oil cooler works for me. KISS

Just curious: What is the buoyancy of silicone in oil? Does it float or sink? Does the buoyancy change with temperature? Am I over thinking the problem?