Oil Pump Mods.
 

I know this has been talked about by several members. But I have finished working on my oil pump. I de-burred the gears and added the oil transfer dimple to all the gear teeth. Honed the exit shaft for the oil to remove casting flash and rough surface. Flattened the bottom plate mounting surface, and added a larger pick up tube. New pick up tube is 7/8" compared to the previous 5/8" tube. I had to open up the inlet of the pump in my mill. Only thing left to do is add the thicker bottom plate which should be here Tuesday. Then test the pressure and adjust/shim the spring tension if necessary.

Nice!

Did you add an oil supply and drain hole for the idler gear?

I added an oil supply for the idler gear. Where should the drain hole be? What's the benefit of the hole? I will add it

What are the benefits of the dimples?

The holes are there o oil will get in there and lube the gears so it doesn't wear out the plate.

180 degrees from the feed hole and about 1/2” down the idler gear. It allows the oil to drain out of the idler gear.

Ok, I will add this. Thanks

The dimples promote a constant film of oil between the gear and the lower plate. Melling adds the dimple to 1 of the gear teeth. The dimple is aligned with the oil transfer slot on the lower plate.

Can you tell us about the 7/8 cone pick up. Part number ??

Nice, where did you source the parts? ( pick up and lower plate?)

The pickup looks to be a Ford mod engine pickup. The one I am doing has the same pickup, just much longer. Did the solder for the cone melt while you welded it up ? I was wondering about it when I get around to finishing the project.
I am not sold on the thick bottom plate meaning all that much. The pump I blueprinted back in the late 80s had the stamped steel version and still has 50+ lbs hot at idle.
When the 455 comes apart I will post some pics of what the pump looks like disassembled after all this time. Might be interesting.

When I did mine I just drilled one hole in the middle of the gear. I thought about doing one 1/2" down from the top and 1/2" up from the bottom on the other side but never did.
Makes it a little lopsided but if you drill one on the other side it will still be lopsided as you can not do them 180 deg off.

The pick up is a Ford part, I dont remember the part number , I 'll see if I can find it ( bought it a while ago and threw out the box) The pick up was "S" shaped, I had to shorten both sides. The factory solder did not melt out while welding, but to get the depth I was looking for in had to remove the cone screen, I brazed the pick up back on instead of welding because of the thickness of the cone. I mocked up the pump on my block, the cone will be approx. 1/2" off the bottom of my Canton pan. . The Thick bottom plate is from Butler. I dont know how much it actually helps, but figure it can't hurt.

Then HOW would contaminated oil escape the idler shaft area WITHOUT a drain hole?

If interested, discussion on the Ford oil pick up here within this thread:

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d+Cobra&page=2

Similar to this one here:
http://www.modularmotorsportsracing....oducts_id=1020


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Without the exact part number, I think several of the puck up tubes mentioned in the links would work. Mine is .840 outside diameter. I just shortened both sides of the 90* bend to fit my needs and welded/grazed the cone filter back on. Welded on a strap to bolt it to the pump body. Measured from the pan rails its roughly 7.5" to the lowest part of the pick up. My pan is a Canton pan that is 8" deep.

Do you "dimple" the under side of the gears too??

Yes I did, thinking there will be an oil film on top of the gears too. Couldnt hurt anything is my thought on it.

Melling 331S. 38 bucks on Amazon.