Windage Tray

[my73charger]

I am pulling my motor out tonight to repair a dent in my oil pan.  I just built the 440 last spring but a buddy of mine... decided o help me jack my car up using my flloor jack and he accidently got the edge of the jack under my brand new 7 quart oil pan and dented it.. .  Anyway, here is my question...should I or shouldn't I put the windage tray back in?  Several friends say they would never use a windage tray cause you don't gain enought to justify not allowing the crank to get extra oil from the pan.  I am not sure what to do...I have another friend with a 440 and he swears by using a windage tray.  Help techys!!!

[Ghoste]

So the extra oil your friends are getting on their crank, what are the benefits they feel they are receiving from this?  Seeing as it shouldn't be lubrication since the bearings are pressure fed from the inside.

[firefighter3931]

Put it back in 

Ron

[my73charger]

Thanks.  That has been my arguement as well.  Still boils me that I have to do this.  Did I mention that my buddy has a jack handle dent in his head?

[sixty6charger]

Agree with the above, put it in the benefits are there when using one. Less drag on the crank makes for more power. If the crank is sloppin through a pool of 5 quarts of oil it is bound to put some drag on it. The arguments of how much gain is acheived can be debated but the bottom issue is that there is something to it.

I'm not an expert, but I can see why they are used.

That's my 2 cents

Jeff

[Ghoste]

Another thing you can tell your friends is that not having a bunch of oil whipped into a cloud around the crank helps to ensure that there is liquid around the pickup.   

[4402tuff4u]

I am pulling my motor out tonight to repair a dent in my oil pan.  I just built the 440 last spring but a buddy of mine... decided o help me jack my car up using my flloor jack and he accidently got the edge of the jack under my brand new 7 quart oil pan and dented it.. .  Anyway, here is my question...should I or shouldn't I put the windage tray back in?  Several friends say they would never use a windage tray cause you don't gain enought to justify not allowing the crank to get extra oil from the pan.  I am not sure what to do...I have another friend with a 440 and he swears by using a windage tray.  Help techys!!!

I'm far from being a mechanic, however just the fact that the engine was designed to have it and the engine was designed by a group of engineers is reason enough for me to say put it back. 

[tan top]

oil being whipped in to frothey mix of oil and air in the oil pan should always be avoided , i would defiantly put the tray back

[is_it_EVER_done?]

Personally, I quit using trays a few years ago. I'll list the reasons, but will caution that I have no empirical evidence, so my reasons are based on observation over the years, and is personal opinion only. I would love to hear others thoughts on the subject.

A race engine will show a power increase with a tray, but only at higher RPM. A street engine that spends 99.9% of it's life a low RPM will not gain any measurable power from a tray. That's the reason that the HP engines received trays, as the cars had lower gears, got raced offten, and generally were operated at higher RPM's than a slant-6 Dart or a New Yorker.

Windage is essential for lubricating the cylinder walls and cam lobes, as neither one have any other source of lubrication. This was addressed by all manufacturers by the design/inclusion of "oil squirter's" machined into the parting lines of the stock connecting rods, which squirted oil onto the cylinder walls and camshaft. Since aftermarket rods don't include this squirter, windage becomes far more essential.

The continual reduction of anti scuff elements in oil (such as zinc), means that most of the wear protection that the cam has nowdays is hydraulic film. Using aftermarket rods (no squirter's), a windage tray (reduced oil supply to the cam/cylinders), and low RPM (further reducing windage), is part of the reason (my opinion) that there are so many cam failures in these old engines now. Modern engines go so far as to incorporate dedicated oil squirter rails for cylinder lubrication, which is required due to lower and lower operatring RPM's for milage considerations (reduced windage).

The current/common use of "fast rate" cam designs, thinner rings, overdrive units, and aftermarket rods, coupled with modern "environmentally friendly" motor oil, has rendered the use of windage trays in anything but a race engine, obsolete in my opinion, and will most likely be detrimental to power (and wear) instead of a benefit. Remember that these cars were designed as  ---- CARS.  Meaning that they were driven on the roads, for many hours at a time, for many miles, at much higher RPM's than would be acceptable today, were raced offten (street racing was not as frowned upon as it is today - on the downside, neither was drinking and driving), and were designed to be disposable in just a few years.

Given all the changes from new to now, a windage tray in a street car is the most costly couple of horsepower you can achieve (my opinion).

[sixty6charger]

That's a very good explanation as the when to use a windage tray. Since I have a high reving engine I do use one. As far as street driven tooling around town and cruising cars are concerned, I agree with you.

But what do I know

[my73charger]

I do have 410 gears and race my car several times a year not to mention an occasional street race or back road race.   I will be putting it back in.