Windage tray....Necessary?

[lineslinger]

I have a 427 so with the Canton "T" style road race pan, it has the one way doors surrounding the pickup at the bottom. Should I still install a windage tray? With the depth of the pickup I wonder is a windage tray going to have any noticable influence, or is all the "frothing" action that takes place gone down in that low spot. DSC motorsports has one listed on Ebay for $80. Good price? Do I need it?
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Mark

[trularin]

Other than the weight, it is a cheap help to the engine. Can't hurt.

[SCOBRAC]

No... however... for the $45 it costs to install your engine will spin easier live longer and make more horespower. 5-15 more horsepower. It is by far the cheapest way to make power. The average side oiler costs between $16-$32 per horsepower to build... You going to pass up a chance at 10 hp for $45?

I didn't think so...

[SCOBRAC]

Summit sells them for $45. gaskets included.

[Carnut427]

Originally posted by SCOBRAC


Summit sells them for $45. gaskets included.

The Canton windage tray DSC sells is far better than the original CJ type. The Canton tray is made of "one-way" screen, which allows the oil to drop through but not come back up.
Without a screen, the oil actually forms into a "rope" that wraps around with the crank. A windage tray peels off the oil and gets it down into the pan where it belongs, freeing hp, as SCOBRAC mentioned, in the process.

[lineslinger]

The windage tray has been ordered, I thank you guys for the directions and guidance.

Mark

[SCOBRAC]

Better is relative. As long as it keeps oil off your crank it doesn't matter what it's made of as long as it stays in place. My Aviaid windage tray was $129. but it's no better than the Ford Performance unit. But if it makes you feel better to spend $80 then by all means do so. It's still cheap horsepower.

Carcraft this month did an article on windage. They got 20 hp from a BBC by reducing windage. At $25 per hp that's $500 worth of performance not to mention the longevity, rev increase and other benefits you will get...

As it happens I installed a 9 quart Unser pan left over from my 427 Cobra build and put it on the Batmobile this week. The goal was to replace a standard oil pump installed in the late 70's, install the 9 quart pan and while I was in there upgrade the oil pump drive and install a windage tray.

The batmobile has a 1963 427 C3AE AB that would have come with a high pressure pump. I had good oil pressure but with fewer than 5k miles it should have been better... Sure enough upon tear down the oil pump / oil pump drive were standard parts store units.

I opted for a Melling M-57HP pump, ARP 3/8" oil pump drive (1/4" ends) a Ford Performance Windage tray and the Unser T pan that came on my side oiler.

The result was instantly noticeable. The oil pressure went from 55# cold to 98# cold... 40 hot to 75# hot at speed. The surprizing difference was the way the engine responded. It revved faster, idled better and had better seat of the pants "feel".

All the parts were leftover from the original build with the exception of the windage tray and a set of ARP oil pan bolts. so for a $140. (the complete FE ARP fastener set was $99) got a significant performance upgrade. Well worth it in every way, it looks great and runs even better.