vlad01 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2024 6:28 pm
I only use one brace on my eco to Buick sump, was in the way of the headers so I have the driver side bosses milled off the sump. They hold up fine. Some VRs didn't even have provisions for those braces for the T5 and ran without just as FYI.
I was thinking the same. There are lots of engines that only have the 6 bellhousing bolts and they all seem fine, I use the brace on the auto because I guess it can't hurt.
As long as the bellhousing is full circle, then it's all fine. I have seen 202s crack bellhousing a few times as they have those wedge shaped bellhousings, so much more stress from the weight of the engine and box.
I'm the director of VSH (Vlad's Spec Holden), because HSV were doing it ass about.
So now to sort out what needs bypassing/deleting from the old oil system. My thoughts are that the oil filter housing will go in the bin, I'll tap a fitting into the timing cover that will accept the oil supply line. The oil pump drive will stay to space the crank but the oil pump rotor will go in the bin. I don't see a need to block off the old oil pump orifices but may be wrong. The oil pump relief will also go in the bin. Thoughts?
What the FH cars do, is they still run the factory oil pump, but the pickup is blocked off and the supply for the factory pump is supplied in from the external tank.
Firstly, the factory oil pump on the V6 is very tough and reliable and provided exceptional flow and pressure.
Secondly, by still running the factory pump in a dry system, it buys you a safety mechanism if/when the external pump drive belt fails.
By running the alternator and external oil pumps on the same toothed belt, when the belt breaks. The big fuck off alternator light will give you time to stop the engine before the oil tank is depleted. Having the pressure pump stage external, you can kiss the engine goodbye as soon as that belt breaks.
It's just another critical failure point.
The main reason a lot of engines use the whole external setup is because they have shit cam driven oil pumps which inherently are problematic in the race environment. Engines with a crank driven gearotor pump are most often retained in dry sump if they are not know to have issues.
I'm the director of VSH (Vlad's Spec Holden), because HSV were doing it ass about.
Or copy it and only drill the holes you need. A plate like this also removes the oil filter bypass, make sure you have a good external oil filter.
There is a crowd in Aussie who make a copy of this plate but right now I can't remember the name. Something like DDG or DGG? they are on facebook (and I don't have a facebook account).
If you are using the external pump to control pressure you will need to blank off the factory oil pressure control valve otherwise that might open and allow oil to flow to the input side of the factory oil pump if you set the pressure higher at the external pump.
Actually, no, you shouldn't need to do anything to the factory pressure control valve. Looking at the factory filter extension housing, oil pressure relief is taken from the feed side of the oil filter and as you aren't using any of those functions you don't need to machine any of that into the back of the new plate so that will effectively blank off the whole factory bypass valve.
However, I would still plug the factory relief valve and then you can machine the passage where the oil pressure feed from your external pump goes much larger as it can pass directly over the original pressure relief valve port.
