External oil pickup questions

[bullet18]

Im going to a external oil pickup because im sick off bending the stock ones when i take them out plus im pretty sure my crank will hit it anyway. Is the plug on the back of the oil pump cover for an external pickup or do i need a different cover?

 

[dolphin3111]

That is not a plug. It's a cover for the oil pump's internal pressure regulator. There is a spring and a plunger underneath. When you buy the Milodon external pickup kit (without pump), it will have the necessary adapters to connect the suction line(s) to your pump.

I would use the Melling M-63HV pump. It has 25% more volume and hook the Milodon line kit up to it. This Melling pump looks the sames as OEM except it's a little thicker (longer rotors).

FYI, Milodon makes an externally adjustable pressure regulator for the OEM or Melling oil pump that works really nice to keep from over-pressuring at high rpm.

 

[6PKRTSE]

Also, just heads up. Be sure to keep your external lines with the center up higher than the pump to always help keep the oil system primed. I also had to wrap my lines with heat wrap due to how close they are to the headers.

 

[PureGTS]

Something else to think about: external line don't like start up. They typically run with no to low oil pressure on start up for a few seconds. I've tried the 'put a curve in the line(s) to trap oil next to the pump' with no luck. I've reached the point where I'm working on an electric priming pump to pre-charge the system. Mind you this a is a single -12 static line system with the Melling HV pump and Milidon plates. I've run a dual -12 line system with a KB ultra pump and got the same symptoms.

 

[6PKRTSE]

I also run a 3 qt accumulator on my car as well as a priming tool before initial fire up and in case of oil pressure loss on a pass.

 

[PureGTS]

I designed a shutdown system that works off of the oil pressure idiot light switch to kill the car's ignition and, more importantly in the case of a wreck or roll over, the electric fuel pump. Bad enough to wreck the car don't want to wake up in the burn unit too. (see pic)
Lost an engine to a backed off rocker shaft bolt that dropped the push rod and ejected a lifter. End result; no oil pressure making 7000 RPM shifts, poor thing developed a rod knock.