Hey all,

Bought a 383 and the guy I bought it from studded the main caps. I don't want to lose the strength by going back to those stock bolts in the 3 locations I need to in order to keep the windage tray in place.

Do I need that windage tray? Is there anything cheap and aftermarket available however, I don't want to go that route unless it is absolutely necessary.

Ben

 

You need one if you want your motor to last. My canton one has one built into it.

 

What exactly do you mean by this? How would not having a windage tray damage a motor?

 

Without a windage tray, what usually happens: The crank will whip up a very large force of wind---accurate word in this situation----and that wind will pound down on the oil in the sump near the oil pump pickup. What started off as good solid oil pressure at 1000rpm will now be air and oil at 5000rpm. The oil pressure guage might show that you still have oil pressure but that air/oil mix at 30psi is not as good as 100% oil at 65psi. The bearings will get hot and eventually stick to the crank. eek.

Well, if it were my motor I'd make sure to put a windage tray in it. You could swap out the short ARP main studs with 3 long Milodon windage tray studs. The stock tray will fit over most any stroker crank/rod combo. You'll need to bend the tray up and away from the rods a little bit.

Some oil pans already have a good windage tray so if you get the Canton or Moroso or Stef's or Milodon pan then you might get away with not having a tray bolted to the main studs.

In my opinion, the #1 cause of oil starvation is lack of windage control.

Karl Ellwein