I copied the following from Aviaids Bio:
In 1955 Tom Davis was having
oil pressure problems with his boat motor. His modifications worked so well that he began
building pans for others. Specializing in boat pans for several years he started building pans for sprint cars, discovering
that he could swap them for tickets to the races. And so began the custom
oil pan industry.
In 1961 Aviaid Metal Products opened as a commercial sheet metal job shop that also built
oil pans. By 1965 his original
personal project had grown into a business supplying pans for many forms of motorsports including boats, sprint cars, stock
cars and road racing cars. One of these customers was looking for a solution to an increasingly serious oil pressure problem
being suffered by his Can Am cars. As cars got lower, there was less room for an adequate wet sump pan. So using a scavenge
pump design from an Allison aircraft engine Tom took several sets of stock oil pump gears and his drawings to a local machine
shop. The result was the first belt driven externally mounted three-stage dry sump pump developed for American motorsports.
That was 1967. Since then Aviaid has built pans and pumps for a long list of stars from all forms of motorsports worldwide.
During that time Aviaid continued to introduce new features and enhancements for competition oiling systems, including
cam drive pumps and cast iron pressure sections.
After Tom's death in the late eighties, the company was acquired for its commercial sheet metal business. The oil system
components continued as a sideline until mid-1998, when the oil system products were split off into a new, separate company
dedicated to the design, manufacture, development and distribution of these products.
Aviaid today manufactures two lines of externally mounted oil pumps. The most familiar one, the Series 1 Competition oil pump,
is actually the 2nd pump design created by Tom Davis. Its familiar round shape has been manufactured for over 30 years. The
new Series 2 Pro-Line oil pump was designed to incorporate features and specifications necessary to address today's
requirements for certain specific applications. In all cases Aviaid seeks to supply high quality oil systems suited to each customer's
requirements. Using premium materials, CNC manufacturing techniques, and exact processing standards we have created
modular pump programs that can serve a user's need, regardless of how general or specific they may be.
To complete the oil circuit we have added the broad selection of plumbing products offered by XRP, Inc. and the standard setting
dry sump tanks manufactured by Patterson Enterprises to our catalogue. We can offer our user a complete package that is more
cost effective than the components purchased separately, and offers the benefit of proven compatibility. Being racers ourselves we
understand the need to offer products that fit and work, as well as ones that are available when needed. We look forward to
serving our customers' requirements. It's almost as good as being in the race ourselves.
They are held in very high regard regarding Oil Pan fabrication and oiling system hardware and plumbing.
Rick