Bought a Melling oil pump and a Oil Pump Pickup Tube/Screen Assembly. The screen assembly sits flush against the bottom of the oil pan. What do I need to fix this? A different oil pump or pickup Tube/Screen Assembly. The oil pump is 7 1/2" inches deep.
My rule of thumb has always been to place the pickup screen 1/4" to 5/8" above the bottom of the pan. I don't know what type of motor you are building (stock or mod'd), but I have always brazed the pickup to the pump. So, you can try and bend it or cut it off and re-weld or braze it..........pretty simple..........and if you can't weld or braze take it to someone who can. The only issue with bending it is that the pickup screen/bottom should be absolutely parallel to the bottom of the pan. I also don't like the factory pickups because they are not full flow. Here is the stock type, http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mel-68-s/overview/ Here is the full flow type, http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ctr-15-611/overview/ With all of that said, after rebuilding many engines, I have yet to put one together that I didn't have to modify the oil pump pickup.
olerodder, Basically building a dd 302, but I want to do it right. I bought a melling front sump pickup tube/screen assy, the same one you recommended. I'm not going to attempt bending it, there's a right way to do it! I will have to cut it and weld it as I can't find anything (factory built) that will accommodate my set-up. thanks for the advice.
yep.. do NOT bend it(not to mention how do you avoid kinking it in the process?). You'll have to mod it.. or the pan with the easiest choice being obvious. I've seen plenty of custom setups where they just cut the tube and run a slightly larger tube over both cut ends to act as the spacer to avoid butt joints and the potential internal weld sluffing that goes with them sometimes. Unless of course you can tig it.
