A lot has been written about the FE oiling system over the years. Many have suggested that the factory system is inherently flawed, and that major modifications are warranted. Having built numerous FE engines over the past 30 years, I disagree. The FE factory oiling-system strategy is essentially identical to that of most other Ford V-8s, and requires only modest detail work and attention to assembly in order to function perfectly well. Dramatic alterations are unnecessary in the vast majority of applications.
Oil Pumps
The FE engine uses a gerotorstyle oil pump. It’s mounted to the front left corner of the engine block inside the oil pan. The distributor drives the pump through a 1/4-inch hex-ended intermediate shaft. A pressure bypass spool valve is integral to the pump, and a selective spring controls maximum pressure. Some original pumps were aluminum, but the replacement pumps are cast iron. Replacement pumps are offered in standard volume and pressure. But several other options are available. You can choose from high volume designs with a deeper pump body, high-pressure designs with stiffer bypass springs, and high volume/high-pressure versions that combine the stiff bypass spring with the deeper pump body.
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A typical Melling high-volume FE oil pump is a gerotor design; a 1/4-inch hex shaft drives it. High-volume pumps typically deliver 20 to 25 percent more oil volume than common replacement oil pumps. They’re not always a necessity, but will raise the oil-pressure reading. Low-idle oil pressure is a common concern with the FE, although it rarely causes any problem with the engine. Melling offers a variety of pumps for the FE, including standard, high-volume, and high-pressure variations.
The bypass spring serves as the effective limiter for peak oil pressure when the engine is cold or at high RPM. The cumulative area of all bearing and valvetrain clearances in the engine defines the pressure at any time below peak, such as at idle. FE engines are noted for having fairly low-idle oil pressure, and therefore a hot idle reading of 15 to 25 pounds is common with standard-volume pumps. A higher-volume pump generates higher-pressure readings at all points below peak and serves as something of a confidence booster, along with having value in higheroutput engines where clearances are intentionally larger. The oft-repeated adage of needing 10 pounds minimum pressure per thousand RPM is still valid. Some builders desire higher pressure values as a matter of personal preference; and those can be had with the high-volume pump configurations. Some have reported that a highvolume pump pulls the stock oil pan “dry.” Therefore, the drainback speed isn’t fast enough to adequately keep the oil pan filled and, as result, delivery is more of an issue than back speed. Ford specified that factory 428 CJ engines carry an extra quart of oil, so the 5-quart pan was the same depth and volume while actually holding 6 quarts. The combination of high RPM and the front sump can apparently cause problems in certain conditions, and the highvolume pump may well exacerbate these conditions. The solution seems simple though. If you want to run a high-volume pump in an otherwise stock-style application, add an extra quart of oil.
Measuring pan depth and pickup-topan clearance is simple on a deepskirt engine like the FE. This is a critical step when building any engine because you need to ensure that the pump-to-pan clearance is adequate. The last thing you want to discover is oiling-system problems after initial start-up and have to deal with subsequent engine damage.
The oil-pump windage tray and pickup have been assembled here. Some need to be adjusted for proper clearance. I find it easier to mount the tray to the block first with a few bolts before assembling the pickup onto the pump. This permits easy inspection for interference.
The mid-sump race pan puts the oil sump farther back in the chassis, which lessens the oil control negatives associated with front sump pans in drag-race applications. It uses an extended pickup tube supported by a main cap bolt, so that proper pump depth and position is correctly set.
This a factory oil-return tray in position on the head. While it’s an effective part, it doesn’t work with many aftermarket rocker systems. The long-fingered return trays direct oil through the opening in factory intake manifolds. Even if the tray is modified to fit your rockers, many aftermarket intakes are not designed to accommodate the tray’s fingers.
At Survival Motorsports, we tend to use a common Melling M57HV high-volume oil pump on the majority of engines. We disassemble them, detail the inlets and outlets by removing any obvious burrs or impediments to flow, check clearances, and inspect for free movement of pump components and the bypass valve upon reassembly. Pump rotor-to-cover clearances are critical, and they need to be level and around .001 to .003 inch at the most. If the clearance is larger, bleed off causes idle oil pressure to suffer. The edges of the gerotors need to be nearly sharp for greatest pump efficiency, so they may be deburred but should not be chamfered. On our personal race engines built  at Survival Motorsports, we will use a standard-volume pump, trading off the small increase in power against the reduced oil pressure, but do not typically do this on a customer engine.
Precision Oil Pumps offers several blueprinted and safety-wired oilpump options if a ready-to-install “out of the box” package is desired. This company also offers an extrahigh- volume pump, which has merit in aluminum block and racing applications.
We commonly install oil pumps with high-quality fasteners and a bit of Loc-Tite. We safety wire the bolts for those applications that are going to see extended running and high vibration, such as road-race cars or off-road trucks. Ford pumps have a thin paper gasket between the block and the pump. We use a very small amount of sealer on the gasket.
Pump Driveshafts
The factory FE pump shaft is a simple piece of 1/4-inch hex stock that connects the distributor to the pump center rotor. A serrated washer is pressed onto the pump shaft to prevent it from coming upward and loose during distributor removal. Some FE truck engines use a larger 5/16-inch hex drive, but these drivers are not typically used for highperformanc engine builds.
The ARP FE oilpump drive is a stronger replacement for the small-diameter factory piece. Made from heat-treated, high-grade chromoly steel, the ARP design features a wider-diameter, heavy-duty shaft for racing and high-performance use. ARP shafts withstand the added torque of high-volume and highpressure oil pumps as well as heavyviscosity lubricants.
The factory shafts had a reputation for twisting into a “barber pole” when debris jammed into the pump, causing an abrupt loss of oil pressure and subsequent engine failure. Often, pieces of valvestem seal or timing gear teeth were ingested into the oil pump on high-mileage engines, which caused the oil pump to jam and the engine to fail.
For longevity and reliability, we use an ARP heavy-duty pump driveshaft in all of our builds at Survival Motorsports. This upgrade isn’t absolutely necessary because shafts only fail when debris stops the pump, and debris should never be present in a performance engine, but it is inexpensive insurance. The heavyduty shafts have a large-diameter fullround center section with the drive hex formed at each end. Precision Oil Pumps offers shafts similar to the ARP parts, along with a 5/16-inch pump drive end option to match its specialty pump line.
Oil Pump Pickup Screens
The pump pickup is a matched item to your choice of oil pan. Most FE pump screens mount to the side of the pump with a pair of 5/16-inch fasteners. FE automotive oil pans are front-sump types, thus the pickup is pretty short and fairly vertical. Some trucks use a center/rear sump pan with a long pickup tube. Both work perfectly fine, but the long tubes take more time to prime during engine prelubing, causing a couple tense moments waiting for the gauge to move. Higher-end dragrace oil pans may also have a center sump design. The factory-style front sump is not well suited for maximum acceleration in which the oil is forced toward the rear of the engine. The center sump can be a challenge to fit into the car, though, often requiring cross-member and/or steering modification.
I do have a preference to the mesh-screen design as used by Moroso over the perforated metal seen in some others. Every OEM oil pump pickup I’ve ever seen used a mesh screen. The screen should be between 3/8 inch and 1/2 inch off the bottom of the oil pan. Factory screens use a folded sheetmetal strap to prevent the screen from bottoming out against the pan, which is a useful feature that most aftermarket performance screens do not have. Factory screens also have a provision to allow oil flow even when the screen becomes obstructed. Race parts do not include this feature, nor should they require it.
Use a very, very small amount of sealer on oil-pump screen gaskets to prevent any possibility of air leakage on the inlet side. This is very important because the inlet side of a pump is very sensitive to air leakage. Think of having a pinhole in a drinking straw. Also use red Loc-tite on the mounting fasteners. This makes removal more difficult, but you need the fasteners to be secure. They can be safety wired in high-vibration applications. The center-sump-style screens often have a support that mounts to a center main cap bolt as a way to eliminate vibration induced damage.
Here are a couple of Milodon oilpump pickups: one for their replacement pan (right) and one for their deep pan (left). The pickups feature larger-than-stock-diameter thickwalled tubes, which are precision bent.
Oil Filter Mounts
The FE oil filter mounts to an aluminum casting, which is bolted to the front driver side of the engine block. The vast majority of these orient the filter in the vertical position. Some truck parts offer alternate filter positions for special needs. Within the common passenger-car mountings, there are a few variations to be aware of. Most physically function on any application, but some are tilted rearward slightly, allowing improved sway-bar clearance. The performance-style mounts have larger cavities for enhanced flow, but standard mounts can be modified results.
Cast-aluminum factory oil-filter mounts, such as this Cobra Jet one, have deeper cavities on the block side and are a better design than some. Cast- and billetaluminum mounts are available for the entire range of FE engines.
This view of the factory oilfilter mount shows the side of the pump that mounts to the engine-block side.
Oil-filter-mount gaskets usually come with only a couple of punched round holes, instead of having the full opening matched to the mount.
This is an oil-cooler adapter for 428 SCJ engines. It allows you to install an oil cooler and maintain lower oil temperatures in racing and extreme high-performance use. Blue Thunder now reproduces these.
This filter mount is shown with a modified (bottom) and an unmodified (top) gasket. Opening the gasket holes to match the bean-shaped slots in the filter mount lessens the potential for leakage, and from having bits of gasket paper entering the oiling system.
A typical Melling high-volume FE oil pump is a gerotor design; a 1/4-inch hex drives it. High-volume pumps typically deliver 20 to 25 percent more oil volume than common replacement oil pumps. They’re not always a necessity, but will raise the oil-pressure reading. Low-idle oil pressure is a common concern with the FE, although it rarely causes any problem with the engine. Melling offers a variety of pumps for the FE, including standard, high-volume, and high-pressure variations.
The factory oil-filter adapter is installed on the engine, simply bolts to the side of the engine, and the dipstick goes right behind the mount. Some truck engines also have a compressor drain opening in the block near the dipstick, which must be plugged for passenger-car use.
I modify the mounting gaskets for the filter mounts. The normal gasket has a pair of holes that match the block. You can take a handicraft knife and open up the holes to match the bean-shaped openings on the filter mount, which eliminates the chance for loose gasket material to impede oil flow. Precision Oil Pumps offers a billetstyle mount for those seeking that appearance. Also available are a variety of remote filter and cooler adapters for road-race applications.
Block Oiling Circuitry
With the oil pump and filter hardware defined, you can move on to the block itself. While hard to describe, a few minutes spent probing through passages with a piece of welding rod or coat hanger makes it easy to understand the oiling strategy on an FE block.
On a typical center-oiling-style FE, the oil leaves the pump at the block mounting surface. It makes an abrupt 90-degree turn and heads out toward the filter. The pump outlet is an oblong, roughly 1/2-inch-diameter opening, while most factory blocks have a straight 5/16- or 3/8-inch drilled hole for an inlet. Use a carbide burr on a die grinder to open that passage up to match the pump outlet. Then use a 60-grit cartridge roll (aka, “tootsie roll”) on the die grinder to blend and contour the turn, so it has a smooth transition.That same cartridge roll will be use at the filter mount openings to clean up any machining steps or burrs.
Contrary to popular belief, the oiling system on an FE engine is not flawed or subpar. This illustrates the path of the oil from the oil pump to the filter mount. Be sure that the passage is free of any obstructions or machining flaws. With any max-performance engine, you need to maintain optimal oil-flow volume. This shows the side-oiler passage and oil route on a 427 from the filter mount into the block. As the name implies, the side-oiler passage runs along the driver’s side of the block, routing oil to main bearings for the purpose-built 427 race engine.
Oil routes from the side of the block and through the filter. It then returns into the block through a passage that is angled upward toward the passenger side, and then it lubes the front main and cam journal on its way through. This meets up with another passage just forward of the passenger-side lifter bank. This passage runs back and upward toward the driver side, intersecting the front-to-back center galley and ending with a plug right alongside the distributor hole.
The main center passage in turn carries oil to vertically drilled passages and feeds each cam bearing along the block. There are annular grooves around each cam bearing in order to carry oil to the vertical passages feeding the main bearings. The feeds to the main bearings are vertically in line with the respective cam journals and are often slightly offset from the feed holes in the main-bearing inserts. It is a common practice to use a die grinder with a small burr to blend the block feeds so that they match the bearings. If you choose to make this modification, remove only the smallest amount needed and go only a quarter inch into the opening because this is a known crack-prone area in non-cross-bolted blocks.
This shows the side-oiler passage and oil route on a 427 from the filter mount into the block. As the name implies, the side-oiler passage runs along the driver’s side of the block, routing oil to main bearings for the purpose-built 427 race engine.
You do not need to significantly alter the oiling system on an FE unless it will be extensively modified. The stock system provides adequate oil volume and pressure for most combinations up to 500 hp. This photo shows the oil path through the side-oiler passage, which feeds the main bearings.
FE block galleys all end with plugs, either press-in or 1/4-inch NPT screw-in. I prefer the screw-in design and convert to screw-ins on press-in-type blocks if the casting is thick enough. When I cannot add screw-in plugs, I use epoxy as a plug sealant, and stake the press-in plug with a few light punch marks around its circumference.
The center galley also feeds the lifters, in most cases, through a pair of angled galleys found toward the rear of the block’s lifter valley. On the typical FE, the lifter galleys feed the lifters only, which is different than the common Ford engine. Factory solid-lifter engines had no oil to the lifters and relied on splash; the lifter feeds were undrilled. It used to be common practice for race-engine builders to block these feed passages on solid-lifter applications, but now the trend is to either leave them open or restrict them using a drilled set screw. The passages are easy to tap to 3/8-inch thread size. When they are restricted, I use a .060-inch drill, preferring to keep some oil flowing to the lifter bodies.
Most FE engines have a top-oiler engine oiling system, and therefore the oil path routes from the top end down to the crank. The top oiler’s central main oil galley runs front to back through the lifter valley. It feeds oil to the cam tunnel and then down to the main bearings.
A pair of galleys (that run front to back) feed the lifters and have plugs at the rear of the block. The cam retainer plate bolt plugs the front of the passenger-side galley, while the driver side has a plug that hides behind the distributor hole.
On FE engines, the rocker-arm system feeds lubricant through a series of convoluted passages. They start with passages leading from the number-2 and -4 cam bearings upward to the cylinder-head deck. Once there, they go to an opening in the head, around a head bolt, and up to a feed hole alongside one of the center rocker mounting bolts. On factory installations, the rocker bolt in that position has a reduced shank diameter to improve oil flow. Oil travels around that bolt, through the pedestal, into the rocker shaft, and then out to each rocker arm.
Factory rocker drain tins were offered in a variety of styles over the years. They do a good job of directing drainback oil from the heads, but often do not fit many aftermarket rocker systems or intakes.
This shows the oil-feed path from the block’s deck to the cylinder heads. The bottom of this passage intersects the annular groove in the cam tunnel. The oil route to the rockers on an FE is somewhat tortuous. Once the oil travels through the head gasket, it runs a short distance across the face of the head and then up alongside the nearest head-bolt hole.
Normal side-oiler cam tunnels have no annular grooves. Cutting a partial annular groove into a side-oiler cam tunnel allows the block to be used for an SOHC conversion, and also permits the use of readily available “normal” FE cam bearings.
Often oil flow is restricted to the rocker arms, so more oil flow is maintained across the main bearings. This common FE modification can be made either in the head or at the deck. Deck restriction tapping is simple during block prep.
To restrict the oil-feed hole at the deck, the oil gallery has been drilled and an Allen-head setscrew has been installed.
Side-oiler 427 engines are different. The upward-angled passage coming out of the filter first intersects a front-to-back passage that runs alongside the block on the driver side. This serves as the primary feed for oiling to the crankshaft, and therefore feeds the mains and rods before any other parts. This routing strategy is also found in new race engines and is called “priority oiling.” These blocks generally do not support hydraulic lifters, and lack the annular oil grooves behind the cam bearings. They require a special cam- bearing set with extra passages, and a camshaft with grooves in the number-2 and -4 bearing journals in order to supply oil to the rocker arms.
There are a couple variations on the above themes. Some lateproduction 427 engines, as well as many service blocks and most aftermarket blocks, have a side-oiler mainfeed design along with hydraulic lifter capability. You may also find marine engines, which are visually cast as side oilers, but these have a centeroiling strategy. Often, these engines have a portion of the side-oiling galley casting machined off for mounting clearance, and can be identified by the brass core plugs—as opposed to the common steel versions.
Pressure bypass systems are found at the rear end of many sideoiler or center-oiler blocks. Consisting of a spring and a spool valve, these are used to regulate peak oil pressure and require an extremely high-pressure bypass spring in the oil pump to be effective. It has become common practice to disable these valves with steel shims or tubing and rely on the “normal” oil-pumpmounted bypass valves.
Restricting the oil supply to the rocker arms is a very popular modification. It’s not a mandatory upgrade when using stock-style rockers, but a useful move on roller-bearing-style rockers, such as the Erson parts, which require far less lubrication. The restriction can be made either at the cylinder-head deck, or at the rocker mounting pedestal. A .060- inch-diameter feed provides plenty of oil for most applications. On factory heads, a common Holley carburetor jet drops right into the feed and works well. On Edelbrock heads, you need to fabricate a restrictor from a piece of tubing or rod. Restricting the rocker feed usually adds a few pounds of idle oil pressure.
Valvetrain drainback tins sandwich between the rocker pedestals and the cylinder heads, and come in a couple of styles. The earlier parts have long, finger-shaped drains that extend into the openings in the intake just inside the valve covers. The more common tins have shorter fingers that serve the same purpose. The tins are not compatible with many aftermarket rocker systems. Some intakes also do not permit the use of the drain tins. The only other drainback concern lies with the front and rear corner drains in the heads. These drain oil around the corner head bolts. Earlier Edelbrock heads had very small drilled openings that were not in line with the openings in certain intake manifolds and gaskets, and therefore prevented proper drainback. This has been corrected in later heads, but should still be checked on assembly.
When using a Fel-Pro gasket with a Genesis block, it’s common to find that the oil-feed hole on the block doesn’t align with the gasket. The fix is to either drill an extra hole in the gasket or put a shallow groove in the deck.
Oil-feed route is shown from the cylinder head deck to the nearby head-bolt hole. The oil flow from the block’s deck intersects with the machined slot at the right-side end, travels across it, and then goes up into the bolt hole.
The silver-colored steel rod shows the oil-feed route to the valvetrain. Note the distance between the rod and the head-bolt hole. That distance coincides with the feed slot in the cylinder head.
Here is the oil route through the head to rockers in a standard FE design. However, the Blue Thunder head and T&D rocker system do not use this convoluted route. Instead, the oil is routed through the pushrods.
Windage Trays
Factory high-performance FE engines used a stamped-steel windage tray with a series of louvers for oil drainback. These are sandwiched between the oil pan and the engine block using two oil pan gaskets. Aftermarket windage trays are available from a number of suppliers and are either the louver-style or a screen-mesh design. In dyno testing, I have never seen any horsepower from a windage tray on an FE. The improvements in oil control under acceleration are more important in any case, which makes a windage tray a good investment. When installing a windage tray, it’s important to check for crankshaft and connecting rod clearance, especially when using a stroker crank. Also be sure to test fit the dipstick; sometimes the tray needs to be trimmed for clearance so that the stick does not bend back up into the crankshaft when inserted.
Canton screenstyle windage tray clears most combinations. But you still need to conduct a careful inspection to be sure it does not come in contact with any other parts. In particular, make sure that it does not come in contact with the dipstick. You may also need to add clearance for the pump pickup when using a Moroso pan.
A windage tray controls oil slosh and foaming, so the oil-pump pickup keeps a steady supply of oil routing to the engine. This louvered-design Moroso tray has recently been deepened to accommodate the popular stroker crankshafts.
Oil Pans
The oil-pan mounting flange on an FE engine is flat all around, and the gasket is a single piece of cork or rubber composite without the separate molded rubber ends found in other engines. FE oil pans are available in numerous configurations. Most factory automotive pans have a front sump with a shallow rear section which has a couple indentations where the tie rods swing close to the engine. Some truck pans as well as specialized race pans have a center or rear sump.
A Moroso T-type oil pan is a popular choice because it provides more oil capacity while delivering street-safe ground clearance. They are also offered with road-race-style baffles and trap doors for improved oil control in high-speed cornering.
The Milodon replacement-style oil pan is similar to the factory part in depth and design. A stock-style pan, like this, is compatible with factory chassis components and exhaust systems, as well as with most headers.
An inexpensive pressure gauge is mounted to the filter adapter for prelubrication. This allows you to verify that the engine has been adequately lubricated before initial startup. It’s a wise insurance policy to protect your investment.
Milodon’s deep-sump pan is essentially the same as the factory Cobra Jet part, but a 2-inch-wide band is welded into place to deepen the sump and some additional baffling is added. It’s inexpensive, works well, and baffles the oil movement effectively.
This road-race-style oil pan from Aviad is a faithful duplicate of the original Ford racing pan and remains very popular for building Cobra replicas. It includes the oil pickup and a dedicated windage tray for a reliable roadrace- oriented oiling system package.
In a wet-sump system, a very deep fabricated pan provided the only dyno-proven horsepower improvement I’ve documented, and this pan would be impractical in any application. The horsepower improvement was very modest. In any race or street vehicle oil control is realistically the main factor of concern.
Dry-sump pans use a series of suction sections on a remote pump to effectively vacuum oil out from below the engine. There should be a measurable power advantage to this expensive design package, which is commonly employed on professional-level road-race and drag-race applications. Although I have not had the opportunity to personally dyno test a dry-sump FE, the simple fact that every Pro Stock and NASCAR team employs the drysump design speaks volumes about its effectiveness.
Written by Barry Robotnik and Republished with Permission of CarTech Inc
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