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350 sbc oil pickup tube

S

stan

Well-known member
We recently upgraded a freinds airboat from dd to gear drive by replaceing the heads with vortec heads ,comp cam ,650 holley andvictor intack .All was well untill he lost oil presssure, upon investigating by removing the oil pan he discovered that the oil pickup tube had fell in the pan.My question ,is this a freak thing to happen or is this something that needs to be corrected in a airboat application because of vibration?
 
Most people weld them in to make sure thet don't come off.

hey look I finely got to post some thing my computer is working.
 
All you need is 2 little tack weld on both sides and it'll never happen again, At least thats what I did when building mine. Just my 2 cents. SAFARI RICK
 
You can tach weld it but it is preferred to purchase a Moroso or Milodon pick up that comes with a bracket that bolts to the oil pump cover. It is not always successful to tach mild steel to cast iron. Pick ups falling off is a very common problem especially with deep pans when you run an extended pick up.
 
Wow, I had never heard about this! Y'all have probably saved me from disaster .... I'll be securing that pick-up tube in my new crate
motor before it goes in the boat. Thanks :D .

feather
 
Dave has very good advice here. Cast iron doesn't weld very well. Take it from someone who has built hundreds of them. I show customers all the time on previous built engines, that the welds look OK, but the only real thing holding it on is the press-fit of the tube. Of course a good welder with the right rod and pre-heating can do OK, and believe it or not brazing works well. But also remember that you have to dissasemble the bypass spring and plunger or else the heat will damage them, and you'll be lefet scratchin yur head wonderin why she only holds 30PSI. JMO

Felber.
 
I just got off the phone with the people at Jeg's (800-345-4545). Part #555-23620 is a clamp and bracket that is designed to hold the pick-up tube into the pump body on a SBC, and it costs less than $10 bucks with free shipping.

feather
 
It is very important that you don't assume the pick up is the correct height. I have found the simplest way to check your pick up clearance is to get a zip lock or plastic bag and place it over the pick up then place a small ball of clay around 5/8 thick on top of the pick up. then put the pan on and make sure it's flush to the block. Then take the pan off and measure the clay you MUST have a minimum off 1/4 inch clearance from the pan to the pick up and you really don't want more then 3/8. I have seen many people no check then and cause a disaster.
 
Thanks thunder and all ,me not knowing anthing about chevy's,for the education.
Idiots Guide to airboating a small block chevy or
101 ways to keep from blowing up an airboat engine
by Water Thunder

do you take Visa?
 
Man that would suck! reminds me of the maiden cross country trip I took with a 400 SBC I had just built. Wound it out after making a right turn at an intersection, everything looked fine and 3 miles down the road I found out the oil pressure sending unit I didn't bother replacing spewed all my oil. What a great day that was! :cry:
 
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