[Probird]

Ditto to grnmstr. Throw it in the trash and run wthout it. You won't notice any difference in et. You've personally seen what happens to them. Imagine if one of those pieces got hung up between a rod and the block. I've personally had that happen too. Since then I'm windage tray free.

[455firebird1969]

OEM trays are fine, as long as you make it fit well. Dont expect it to fit well on its own the way GM made it, you need to massage it. I normally shim mine with hardened washers to assure the tray does not contact anything...

Every tray I have ever had was stress cracked when it was manufactured. All you have to do is open up the inside radius of all the stamped openings. Open them far enough to remove the stressed metal, and then burnish it smooth...

I would not be surprised if the new ones show evidence of stressed metal too, any sheet metal part getting stamped during the manufacturing process is getting stretched (stressed). However the extra thickness of the new sheet metal trays will provide added strength to resist cracking...

Most importantly with a factory stamped tray, you have to ensure it fits well, without bending (stressing) it as it gets tightened down. I don’t care how thick the sheet metal is, if you stress sheet metal and expose it to vibrations, its going to crack…