Yes I was referring to E-heads on Pontiac motors. Dave Bischop from SD Performance enlarges and chamfers the oil return holes on all the E-heads that he sells. Why? Because oil return is a known problem with E-heads. Things you can do, if you run a solid lifter cam you can use oil restrictors in the lifter bores, you can run thinner oil or go synthetic, you can work the oil return holes in the heads (make sure you know how much metal to remove), you can use a larger pan, you can use an oil accumulator, you can make an external oil return system. Depending on your performance level you may not need to do anything at all or everything you can. My car has a solid roller and e-heads, I shift at 6200. I run oil restrictors and my heads had the oil return holes worked by Dave at SD. I also have a 7 quart pan. I have no problems with oil returning to the pan, that I am aware of. I have a friend who turns more RPM than I do and he runs a stock pan, oil restrictors and is running heads from SD Performance. He has no oiling problems. When Bill Takanabe went to E-heads he ran his pan dry and damaged his engine first time out. He shifts his 541 at 8,000+, I don't know what kind of oiling mods he has done to solve his problem but I did see a big Moroso oil accumulator on his engine. He also pre-heats his water and oil before he runs. I think it depends on the RPM you turn that would determine what oiling mods you need to do. It may also have something to do with if you have a 60 or 80psi oil pump too. If you run a 60 you will start bypassing oil sooner and send less oil through the motor at RPM.
Tim C
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Tim Corcoran
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