Aviad FE Pan Capacity

[HotRodJoe]

Terry...buy it from George and save $$$.

[MOTORHEAD]

Terry:
I would say if you road race your SPF, then you definitley want a 4-way baffled/gated pan. If your present pan has this feature then the only other issue I see would be ground clearance.
Ted, ex Hoosier, worked for ITT/Kellog in early 60's, Drove to west side of Chicago daily. Does the Dan Ryan still exist? bent some fenders on that road!

[TerrysSPF]

HotRodJoe: Thanks. I've heard that George sells these pans but I didn't know for how much $. I should just call him. Always wanted to talk to the guy anyway........heard he knows his $hit! Always like talking to FE guys.

Motorhead: I've never seen the inside of my pan so I'm not sure if it's set up the same way or not. I don't think the Canton pans have the hinged "gates" though.
Ground clearance is a slight concern for me. My Canton pan is only 3" off the ground. Does anyone know what the clearance would be with the Aviaid?
But then again...........I just measured my bellhousing and it sits just as low so my overall ground clearance wouldn't change much anyway. (Lakewood blowproof -and it IS trimmed).

BTW: Yes, the Dan Ryan is still around and just as dangerous as ever. I won't be caught dead in my Cobra there. Too many idiots and they're always in a hurry!
I see you're in Bradenton! My parents are in Sarasota (they live in MI but have a winter home in FL where they stay from Jan - thru April). Beautiful down there.......and a great place to own a Cobra!

[Excaliber]

A thick plate of steel is welded to the bottom the full length of my exisiting pan and shows LOTS of gouges, scratches, etc.

That pan is VERY heavy and has no baffles. It was fine for drag racing but I would never think of using it in road race conditions!

[SFfiredog]

you guys need to start comparing apples to apples.
The Canton road race pan is a front sump pan designed to work in stock chassis (with a crossmember and steering linkage) Fords like Mustangs and Fairlanes. It is a good pan but was designed around the space limitations of a stock Ford chassis.
It will work in a Cobra chassis, but why not take advantange of the wide open room in a Cobra chassis for a properly designed
oil pan. The Aviad/Armando pan is a mid sump, fully trap doored and baffled and specifically designed for a Cobra chassis and offers the most ground clearance and the largest oil capacity. It is perfectly designed for road racing or hot street driving. As uncle George from Nebraska stated, it has the dipstick, puke tank, oil temp, and drain plugs in the right place for a Cobra, except a Superformance. You can order a pan from Armando or Aviad that has the drain plug and oil temp sender plug moved to the sides or rear to clear the sway bar on a SPF chassis, or you can space the sway bar down 1" for everything to clear.
The Aviad/Armando pan also includes the modified windage tray and oil pump pick-up. The Canton pan requires you purchase the pick-up and windage tray separately.
When you add up the prices, I think the Canton pan, pick-up and windage tray actually costs MORE than the Armando pan.
I've used ALL the different pans in question, and I think the Armandos pan is the best value for the money.
The coolest Cobra pan is the Jeff Johnson Billet Fabrications all aluminum Cobra pan. It looks just like a Aviad but with a billet aluminum pan rail. I have one and can post photos if anyone is interested.
--Mike

[TerrysSPF]

Mike: If you could post a photo or 2 and maybe some contact ifo, that would be great.
Oh yah.........and a $ price $. Or don't I want to ask......?

So, I would have to special order a Aviaid pan for my SPF? I've also been told that I need to take off my front sway bar to remove the pan. This project just keeps getting better.

[weekendwarrior]

Billet Pans

http://www.billetfab.com/

[SFfiredog]

Originally posted by TerrysSPF


Mike: If you could post a photo or 2 and maybe some contact ifo, that would be great.
Oh yah.........and a $ price $. Or don't I want to ask......?

So, I would have to special order a Aviaid pan for my SPF? I've also been told that I need to take off my front sway bar to remove the pan. This project just keeps getting better.

Terry,
You don't need to remove your sway bar, just remove the 4 bolts that mount the sway bar to the frame and push it out of the way.
Your SPF should have the oil temp sensor in the oil filter housing which is the best place for it.
I would order a pan from Aviad or Armando and ask them to install the drain plug in the back of the sump instead of the front.
On a SPF, there is no 2nd crossmember between the pan and bell housing to get in the way like on an original or CSX 4000/4500/4700 series. If you don't want to wait for a custom order, the drain plug fitting is just a fine thread nut that a good fabrication or radiator shop could install in the pan. Have them remove and weld in a patch over the front plug hole. Fill the pan with hot (to simulate hot oil) water and let it sit overnight to check for leaks.
Also, if you are not running a puke tank have them delete the tube for the puke tank so you won't have to worry about the best way to block it off.
BTW, I think I paid $680 for the Billet Fab pan with pick up.
--Mike

[TerrysSPF]

Mike: Thanks for the info!
I'm not in a hurry since the car won't be out for awhile. I have it on my "winter project list" though. First I'm going to see what's wrong with my Canton pan (if the pan itself is leaking or if it's just a gasket issue). I tried snugging up the bolts but, unfortunately, that wasn't it.
I may try George and see if he has the SPF Aviaid pans in stock. Now that I think about it, maybe I better get on the ball with this, in case I do have to special order this thing. I don't want to have the car apart waiting on a pan and have Spring time roll around.

[DAVID GAGNARD]

I just looked up on the Canton site their pans, ALL their ROAD RACE pans have the trap doors,small blocks have 4 trap doors (I have one for my 351-W and one for a 302,both have 4 hinged trap doors),for the FE's they show 6 hinged trap doors,their street/strip pans DO NOT have the hinged trap doors,but are "baffled"..........two different animals,be sure to check and see if you have or want a "road race" pan (preferred),or a street/strip pan.................

Never had any trouble with either of my Canton pans and at least on the small blocks,they are the least expensive on the market,I'd say they are on about 75% of the cars I see at the track as compared to Aviad........

David

[FFR428]

And for those price shopping DSC sells the Canton road race pan and pickup for $300. The windage tray is an additional $85.

[Tim Brewer]

Hey guys,
Going back to the begining of this thread, Mike was wondering how much oil to fill his new pan. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as you have your stock dip stick, you don't need to know anything except to fill to the fill mark, because the oil level is filled to the same depth below the block. Am I right?
Tim

[aviaid]

the pan we have been building for the 427 cobra since 1965 is 6" deep at the front, and 5" deep at the back of the sump. this puts the floor of the pan about 1/2" above the bottom of the frame rails of an original type chassis.

the sump is 18" long, as compared with the front sump pan, an item we also have been building since 1967, which has a 10" long sump.

The sump is divided into 4 quadrents by the 4 door pickup box assembly and the 4 baffles radiating out from it. A hard slosh baffle bolts down on top of this. A custom fabricated pickup with wire screened pickup box bolts to the pump and the intermediate windage tray that bolts between the pan and the block. this is a piece we fabricate from scratch, not a modified stock tray. It incorporates directional windage screen welded behind the 4 oil windows in the tray.

the entire assembly is cad 1 plated, which gives it the silver or aluminum look. not zinc.

we know the sandwich tray works. some years back they tried selling an inexpensive version of the pan without the tray. it would not hold oil pressure. We supply the same tray with our front sump pan.

all our pans are sold complete, including any tray or pickup required. we build them as best we know how within the confines of the space any particular chassis allows.

given that these pans have run successfully the world over, we know for a fact that some cars today are well beyond the capabilities of the best wet sump system. which is why we build a dry sump system specifically for a Cobra chassis. but that is a story for another day.

our 460 Superformace Cobra "427" replica pan, modeled after the original "FE" pan has the drain plug and temp sender bung on the back of the sump.

[Cracker]

Aviaid - I have one these pans and it sprung a leak in the center of the front bottom weld. It now leaks all the time but profusely when the oil gets hot. The plating is the reason I haven't wanted it fixed locally but is this something that can be "sprayed" on or does th pan need to be sent back the factory to MAKE IT RIGHT? They aren't suppose to leak, correct? Thank you!