oil pump bypass

[jpwalt1987]

Well I have read the earl brown front cover modification and studied the power source manual till I see it when i close my eyes . The front cover is ported and smoothed but I am still debating one mod. plugging the oil bypass. From what i was able to see, if the bypass is plugged oil will still be able to go around the plug that has the pressure spring in it. Of course the amount of pressure the spring has will determine when it bypasses the oil back to the suction side of the pump. Am I thinking crazy or not?? just looking for some info and ideas. the motor will have .002 clearance on the mains and rods. the cam bearings are redilled with a .060 hole except for the front one.(still havent decided what i want to do with that one). It also has a solid roller cam. thanks, jeremy walters

 

[HP Man]

Be careful on the PS mods as they can cause the OP to lose its prime. I left the bypass in and had great OP. Engine oiling mods were done, front cover was modded and blueprinted, installed the OP Boost plate, shimmed the OP cover to gears. I sent my cover to TA for their porting and pump mods. Excellant results as my oil pressure was 35# at hot idle with 10W30 oil. Engine bearings were all clearanced correctly too. My engine was built by a good Buick Shop. GL GB

 

[JDEstill]

I say plug it, but only if you are going to do some other things. IMO to run a plugged bypass you've got to:
- run stock length oil pump gears
- run either the Biggie filter upgrade or a TurboSaver
- don't run 40+ wt oil

As for which bypass does what, the one we are talking about plugging just ensures that oil HAS to go through the filter before it goes to the engine. The one with the spring in it that you mention controls the overall system pressure, don't plug it or bad things will happen!

Cam bearings, rather than monkeying around with hole drilling I'd suggest a set of the TA Perf bearings with the groove on the back side. In the #1 spot a single hole bearing, let the oil to the drivers side gallery flow around the outside of the bearing, and a cam with no groove on the #1 journal (which is essentially the stock arrangement) has got to be the best setup.

John

 

[yullose]

It's a safety device to bypass the oil filter should it collapse or clog.

If you plug it, that means every drop of oil must pass through the filter before it gets to the bearings. If you use a restrictive (Fram) oil filter or the filter becomes clogged for whatever reason, then the mains will be starved for oil.
Also... with the higher oil viscosity at cold startup, theres a possibility that the oil is too thick to pass through the filter fast enough.

I use to plug them years ago, but after awhile it was more important to me to know the bearings will ALWAYS see enough volume regardless of the condition of the oil filter.

Do what you want, but if it were me I'd leave it "as-is".

 

[S10xGN]

Mine's plugged, but I use a dual remote spin-on filter base and 2 big Motorcraft FLH-1 filters...

 

[87GN_70GS]

Did you also port the oil filter adapter?

http://www.buickperformance.com/OilingMods.htm

 

[boostingbuick]

I run plugged. But if you do this DON'T RUN FRAM FILTERS!!!!!! I lost a motor when it failed from the pressure.

 

[jpwalt1987]

Well after much debate and deep thought i decided to plug the oil filter bypass. My reasons?.....I run 10/30 oil and mobil one filters(big ones). It doesnt get very cold down here in southern louisiana at all. I put very few miles on the car (1000 in 3 years). But when i do drive it, its to have fun:biggrin:
I would rather have ALL of the oil filtered all of the time than only half of it half the time. thanks for your input everyone. jeremy walters