front cover oiling improvements

[Six_Silver]

What is required to get better oil flow through the front cover? Are there any writeups on the web that I can follow? Is it something that can be done with a dremel or die grinder? Thanks for any tips.

 

[Nick Micale]

The only article I know about concerning this is in the book "Guide to Buick Performance Engines" by Steven Dove.

 

[Six_Silver]

Nick (or anyone else),

Can you go over a few of the common things to do to the front cover? I noticed that there are two oil passages, and can see a few burrs that can be grinded off. Now I know that there are a few sharp bends that the oil travels through, so can I radius these bends at all or is that a bad idea? Is there much material to remove on these bends? Also is there anything special to do to the oil pump?

Thanks.

 

[FastRegalWE2]

damn that book is $197 on amazon.com

 

[Joe Tiano]

the buick powersorce book has some great info on the front cover....

 

[Six_Silver]

I realize that the book has good info, but was hoping to hear some details on here instead of just telling me to buy a book.

 

[DR BOOST]

remove the burrs, radius the bends.

some people run a 1/2 inch drill bit through the long vertical passage. the rectangular hole that goes to the pump cover can be matched to the gasket and the pump cover itself has a big square bump that can be smoothed out.

hth

surej

 

[JDEstill]

I would say that if oil goes through it, port it! All the passages I remember are basically where two drilled passages intersect. The edges are pretty sharp. A dremel tool with a ball shaped cutter will make quick work of these edges. Open up the short side turn too. I'll see if I can find a pic to show you.

John

 

[Six_Silver]

Thanks guys for the replies. Is there much material to remove on those bends (1/16")?

 

[JDEstill]

OK, here's some pics of what I did. Do you know what ported heads look like, esp. in the turn from the port down to the valve? That's pretty much what I tried to do anywhere the oil had to change directions. This includes opening things up in the lower right and left corners of the turn, if you get my drift. Trying to make a constant diameter all the way through the turn. Hope this helps.

Suction passage from the block to the oil pump gears:
http://pages.prodigy.net/buickv6/CarStuff/TCC_Suction1.JPG
http://pages.prodigy.net/buickv6/CarStuff/TCC_Suction2.JPG
http://pages.prodigy.net/buickv6/CarStuff/TCC_Suction3.JPG

Discharge passage from the pump to the block:
http://pages.prodigy.net/buickv6/CarStuff/TCC_Disch1.JPG
http://pages.prodigy.net/buickv6/CarStuff/TCC_Disch2.JPG

And I did similar porting to the oil pump cover, to my PT&E turbo saver, and to a few select places in the block itself (before I took it to the machine shop, of course).

John