Made a few steps forward today. Most relating to the oil system. New aluminum oil cooler, oil pump checked for end play, oil pressure relief and bypass, superseded part numbers.
The oil cooler found on the car was probably in salvageable shape, but like a lot of things not model correct for the engine. We ended up sourcing an aluminum cooler from Wilhoit, which should provide superior cooling and less weight on the oil cool riser. It is VP / Aero-classics PN 8002313. The riser is reported to be susceptible to stress fractures. The cooler takes 8mm studs, so we needed step studs to go through the small holes in the case riser. I just wasn’t comfortable drilling the case holes out, even though I hear many people do.
The oil pump was installed. I initially dry fit the oil pump with gasket to the third piece. Using a dial indicator I got .007 inch endplay when moving the tang gear back and forth. I’m reading that it should be .002-.003 inch, and that anything over .004 will cause oil pressure to suffer. Our machinist removed 3 – 4 thousands from the pump face, – and wound up with -.005″.
A side note on the oil pump is that the “large” later style oil pump apparently was held on with 3 studs with nuts, and one bolt. As opposed to four studs with nuts. Tracking down the bolt with correct markings is proving to be a challenge. There’s some debate on the length, but in trialing what I have at home, I don’t see how it can be anything other than between 35-40mm.
Finally, the oil pressure relief valve and oil pressure bypass valves with springs were installed. Originally the springs were different part numbers. It appears they have evolved into a common part. I went ahead and used new springs and valve since I had already purchased them. One of the valves wasn’t suitable to reuse anyway, since I had to tap it to remove it from the case.
