Anyone try this oiling system mod?

[Turboholic87]

Has any one tried drilling the small hole in the oil pump cover so the oil has a straight instead of having to take a 90 and 180 degree turn to get to the gears? I read the post by earlbrown on the turbobuicks.com site:

How to build a front cover/oil pump - TurboBuicks.com

Seems like the only disadvantage mentioned in the post would be maybe loosing prime to the pump if the oil drains back to the pan but chevy V8 oil pumps have the suction on the bottom and I've never heard of this issue with them. Anyone have any other ideas on why GM didn't do this in the first place?

 

[JDEstill]

When I was setting up my front cover earlier this year I really really really really wanted to do that mod, it makes a lot of sense to me. As you say, the only downside I can see is that the oil pump gears would no longer be sitting in a pocket that cannot drain, and so there is the possibility that the pumps could lose prime. That's the only reason I can think of that Buick didn't put the hole there in the first place.

The only reason I didn't do it was that my oil pump setup was working pretty good before, and I didn't want to risk messing anything up, under the "ain't broke don't fix it" rule. Which is odd for me, since I apparently love to do oil system mods! I did other mods during this last go round, but just didn't do that one.

Well, that reason and one other I guess. My car easily sits for a week or two at a time, and if there are any priming issues due to a very slow seeping of oil back to the pan, it would affect my car a lot more than a daily driver type car. That would be a bummer if I had to prime the pump every time I wanted to drive it. But I understand that Earl has had no such issues. Not sure how many other people have drilled that hole, but surely someone has, and I haven't heard of a drainback issue from anyone else, so maybe it's no big deal.

Again, I think it makes a ton of sense (unless there is a drainback problem). I'd love to hear from someone else how it worked out!

John

 

[Steve V]

Here I am!! Done it it works doesn't lose prime. My wifes daily driver has had it for 17 months and my GN for 3 weeks. My Gn sits for 2-4 days without getting started at times.

Also done it on some of my old cars that have been sold no issues to speak of.

 

[Steve V]

Let me add about the other mods...drilling the feed from the pump to 1/2inches is a crap shoot some times it works,sometimes you get a hole in the cover or an oil leak thats really hard to figure out. I have stopped drilling to 1/2 because of this. Just deburring and smoothing out.

 

[Turboholic87]

Thanks for the response guys. Just curious if either of you have done any other "radical" oiling mods like drilling the two center mains out or installing a HV pump. These are two mods I thought about doing but reading up on the subject it seams like a lot of people don't even bother doing this even on 10-11 sec cars.

 

[Steve V]

Yes,I did both to 86 T type I sold last year had about 50k on that motor. Still going strong. But it's really not necessary. Stock pump is good for us.

 

[JDEstill]

Have I done any other oiling system mods? Surely you jest! This post has just about everything I've done:
http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=182975

One new thing which is not listed is that I eliminated the oil cooler adapter, and ran hose from the oil pump cover to the oil cooler, straight to my Turbo Saver, and then back to the oil pump cover. So I have three hoses instead of four.

John

 

[JM_in_TX]

I did mine like that (everything, drilled the feed very carefully, portmatched
everything and deburred, drilled the hole on the LP side, set the thrust tight) and it works great. I get instantaneous oil pressure at startup, even after the car has set for two weeks and it will hold 25 psi at hot idle. IMO one of the best mods for our cars.
John