front cover/ oil pump question

[Turbo317]

i am rebiuldin my motorsoon, i can get good price on a gm front cover.. should i get that or a high volume cover... 2nd is the oil pump part of the front cover assembly??
Thanks,
Bryan

 

[Intercooler]

If you can get a good price on the GM cover go for it. The oil pump which is the gears, oil filter adapter, pressure relief spring, etc... comes in a oil pump kit. You may need to buy the oil filter adapter plates seperate depending on kit. Melling puts out a decent one. I think standard volume with a booster plate is the hot ticket now. This is the way I am putting the two I have in the garage now together. You can get the oil pump stuff at AutoZone or Advanced Auto Parts. I have used high volume setups in the past but think it best today to do the booster and a standard volume. HTH

 

[Turbo317]

few more questions......can i just reuse the stock front cover then?? and where can i get a booster?? (website?) and just go to advanced or a parts store and get a oil pump rebiuld kit? that all right???
Thanks
Bryan

 

[Chris Taylor]

You can get the wear plate from most NAPA's or Carquest. They will have the high volume kit also. Comes with the oil pump gears and plate. I like the high volume cover that Silver Seal offers. It has the longer gears and the cover is machined so you don't have to use the plate. It also has the seal that can be changed from the front so you don't have to remove the cover. You will spent less money going with the Melling high volume set up. If your cover is not scared or groved where the oil gears were, you can reuse your cover. Both set up will work fine. My.02

 

[FJM568]

If you are rebuilding your motor and keep the correct clearances, then you won't need a Hi-vol oil pump...IMO, the Hi-vol oil pumps are a band-aid to get the oil pressure up on a hi-mileage motor where the clearances have worn to the point of having almost no oil pressure at idle...

As Intercooler had said, I would go with the stock front cover with a booster plate...And as long as you don't have over .002 clearances on the rods and mains, you're oil pressure will be fine with the stock oil pump...

Also, I believe that TA Performance also sell the booster plates...I think they are also slightly different than the ones you can get at AutoZone, Advanced Auto, O'Reilly's, etc...And you can also get the std oil pump kits there, as well...Make sure you set up the oil pump with no more than .002 gear end play as well...Any tighter than .001 gear end play and you run the risk of the pump gears locking up...

Hope this helps...

 

[Turbo317]

thanks for all the input, i think i got down what i need to do, could anyone get me a picture or a procedure of setting the gear end play (sorry 1st time rebiulding motor, needing all the input i can get)
thanks again,
Bryan

 

[Intercooler]

Install the gears, lay pieces of plastigauge on the ends, torque the cover plate/filter adapter to spec, loosen, compare plastigauge to chart, adjust with different thickness gaskets to achieve .002"-.003".

 

[Chris Taylor]

You can use a precision stright edge and filler gauges to set the clearances also.