Oil pan

Whew, that was a bear.  Too bad ST didn’t allow aftermarket oil pans in 2010 when I had the motor built, or 2011 when I put it in… 😉

An oil pan swap can be done with the engine in the car, but it’s a bit of a pain, have to remove some things, jack it up under the old pan, use block to get it to stay up high, swap pans, and then lower back down.

Was able to get the stock pan off without too much trouble, but the aftermarket pan I ended up using from Milodon, hangs down a bit lower than stock, requiring the motor be raised even further.  Underside of the car as it looks today:

This pan has an increased oil capacity from stock (7 quarts vs. 4), left and right-side kick-outs (lots of circle-track stuff out there with only right-side), and three internal trap-door baffles.  Here is a photo illustrating the concept (courtesy this Alfa Romeo site):

The principle with these doors, is they all hinge into a small central area where the oil pickup is located.  They keep oil from rushing out as g-forces build in braking, cornering, or accelerating, and allow oil from the perimeter reservoirs to push the door open and flow into the pickup area.

Even with as old and simple as this car is, there is still some fairly tight packaging at work.  The pan gets very close to the steering, the headers, the monstrous stock starter, has a cutout for an oil filter, and just barely tucks up higher than the stock crossmember, while still being a little deeper than the stock pan.

With all its tricks, the pan should go a long way in helping ensure a steady supply of oil to the pump in big corners.  Between the weight of the pan and extra oil there’s probably another 10 pounds on the nose of the car, uggg, but I’ll take it as good insurance.  Will probably still run the Accusump accumulator at non-SCCA events for that extra measure of protection.