Genuine powell race parts: Trap door oil pan for racing and autox
 

LNF and LSJ.
Stock pan:
http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/a...ril2006025.jpg

Trap door fabricated pan:
http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/DSCF1725.jpg

http://i857.photobucket.com/albums/a...e/DSCF1729.jpg

No two pans are exactly the same, they are hand made, but the configuration remains the same for all.

Cobalts have a wet sump pan, the LE5 pan is superior to LSJ for slosh control, but sustained hi g cornering, braking and especially sudden elevation changes followed by braking can cause oil starvation at the oil pick up and catastrophic engine failure. The trap doors permit oil to flow easily in to the pickup, but keeps a head of oil at the pickup

This hand crafted race modified pan I expect to be priced under $300, the issue really is what to do about core pan returns ( or lack of return ) and the shipping costs. Until we have a strategy for that, (mid September) I cant say what the final price will be. We will have two pans in stock at all times, as we do now.

John:

Is the oil capacity still 5 qts, or did (or can) you go back to the 7 or 6 qt pans of the earlier LSJ motors? I'd really like to have a 7 qt capacity if I had the option. I had an 04 LSJ Redline with a 7 qt capacity, an 06 Redline with 6 qts, and my 09 LNF Cobalt only has 5 qts aboard (at least according to the specs). I'm of the opinion that more oil is better than less -- I'll pay for another couple qts...

I'm interested regardless. I've been worrying about oil starvation for some time.

Thanks, Scott Herbert

is this something that should be of concern for 2.2's? and if so, is it an option for us as well?

Awesome. Glad to see you are going to start offering these!

I'd like to see these available for the 2.2 as well...

it is. no problem. cheers

powell race shop is the king!!!!lol thanks for everything you guys have done for the community

Just curious, could you install something to monitor oil temperature in the new pan? I realize we would need a gauge to hook it too, but I would be _very_ interested in grabbing one of these if this could happen.

You could drill and tap a bung in here for any oil tempature gauge if they cannot. Pretty simple. Other option is to install it in the engine so you get actual operating temps of the oil rather then cooled off temps (after running through cooler and making back to the pan) A good place to drop on is in the drivers side of the head in one of the empty oil gallies.

hmm some new mods to add to my list

7 Qt. pan on an LNF??
 

Would it fit without interference, and is there enough material to warrant the welding changes? If so I get to go on a scavenger hunt.
Also need to know what I am looking for (special shape, protrusion, part number, etc....)

I'd have to send in my turbo swap pan then for lsj. Nifty idea though.
I do have 2 spare lsj pans if u desire

buick pan fits no issue. its 6 qts I believe. but the cobalts an open hole between the crossmember so almost anything will fit

Have one on my cobalt and it's a great part.

the LNF dipstick tube is different diameter and the boss is a different height compared to LSJ Buick also. I dont recommend running the LSJ pan in an LNF but if you do a simple tube modfication takes care of this should you wish to run the LSJ pan. Somewhere on here I posted the differences. I can also say I paid the price of a rod bearing not running a trap door pan with YYZ springs. The lap times were stunningly fast corner speeds higher, all left the oil pickup gasping for air.

boom

I need one of these fancy things.

Thanks for the response. I guess I got caught up in trying to get two-for-one... increased oil capacity and better oil control.
So modify an LNF pan and it can get the oil control stuff done.
Would an Accusump provide extra oil capacity? Is extra oil capacity needed/warranted for track day activities?

I became a victim of oil starvation even before I got my YYZ springs, also on a track. Spun my rod and main bearings and wrote off a crank. I immediately installed Powell's oil pan after that.
As for adding oil capacity, I'll be installing a front mounted oil cooler in the next month or so. Mr. Belvedere on here supplied the flange you need to do that. (thread here: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/adva...cooler-312659/) I'm expecting to add at least 3 quarts of oil with this setup, which is a nice side effect since I'm mainly installing it to curb my temps at the track.

Accusumps are usually bandaids. Before they engage a lot of times it's too late

I sent you a PM that I am interested in getting an oil pan upgraded for autox but I have not heard back from you.

Jim

Just sent him a message for you.

I have a couple extra pans sitting here. One is new

JIm I some how dont see an email from you. John@powellraceparts.com 175.00 exchange or maybe a little more no exchange as we are using new pans these days the fabricator complains about oil in the alloy when we use old cores to make new trap door pans...so...LNF or LSJ ? please specify . Cheers and thanks to Andrew Carr for letting me know you were asking, things are busy around here, I am not on here as much as usual

I may have to get in on this for my next motor build. I have an LSJ pan just laying around I may have to send you this summer.

That was going to be my next question - I'll be on 245/40/17 Rivals and AD08's on 8" wide rims, so it looks like I'll be in trouble on the road course too.
Doh.

You mean gasping for oil? ;)

I vouch for the trap door pan from Powell......have it and run many tracks and it works like a champ.......a great investment if you are tracking the car!
And don't forget the under car rails........and the rear bar.......

glad I found this. So from what I read you do new pans instead of sending in cores due to oil contamination in the welds? could you add a oil return bung for my LSJ-t swap in the process if so then i will email gloria to order one up

for sure I have been off these boards as my hard drive crashed and i have been ipading it. not as easy to deal with forums and passwords unkess they are saved lol. Juat making a new batch of pans over xmas cheers

John, with the pans, do you want cores or not, I have I think is a new LSJ pan, wouldnt mind using it to get a baffled pan next year.

I will be getting a pan, need to find out if the gen 3 LSJ is the same or when I receive the engine send the pan up to you and have it baffled

LSJ is the largest capacity pan but has a wide sump and deep trough makes it a more difficult task to trap door ,we have to run extra baffles. The LE5 is better/easier. Between the different oil pans, here is 1.5 litres difference in capacity and the dispstick tube length and indicator is different as is the boss height in the pan for the tube. LNF and LDK are different to each other in height also

LNF and LE5 pans are the same; LDK and LNF are different. LDK is a inch deeper than LNF holds 6 litres and will not fit a KAPPA car which has a welded in cross member under the oil pan. Plus indicator tubes are different as I have said although they look identical they are not

this can lead to overfilling engine with oil if the tubes are mixed up which is a bad thing

I just make trap doors with new pans. The oil pan metal is difficult to weld also s,o we constantly look for ways to make them better

so how much for a LNF baffled pan? lol. not trying to trash a bearing in this car. the TBSS was enough lol. im going to be placing a big order from you guys soon when im about to head home so this definitely is something id like to grab esp since I plan on doing some track days this year.

Please contact Gloria@powellraceparts.com with your zip etc so she can quote shipped pricing.
As detailed we now make these from new oil pans; the contamination of the alloy with oil makes a used pan problematical. Even so, the issue is welding on what appears to be a reasonably poor grade of alloy used to make these pans. They are made variously in Israel, China and Chekoslovakia (sp) so we are currently revising how we make these things. Sometimes its needed to use epoxy on the outer surface of the pan to seal the porosity that is happening during welding. We have experimented with many different accepted welding and welding prep techniques. Recently, making a radiator for a 70's GM 4x4 resto-mod we ran into the same issue.

What that means is I shipped the last LSJ oil pan yesterday, that we have in stock, and a new trap door pan series is in " production"; all our parts are pretty much ultra low production custom made.

MY orginal GM racing trap door pan made in 2005 I still have, but its a shelf ornament, as it leaks like craZy from the welds and is a colossal pita, even with an epoxy coated base. My Powell version happily doesnt leak. Not all of them do. Its the luck of the draw. Going forward I expect folks wont have to deal with it, as we will have found a new way to make these trap door pans.

yea that makes sense with the contamination. the metal always has to be clean as possible so I cant picture it getting cleaned enough lol. but ok, I will get in touch with her. thank you.

Are these trap pans still available?

Email gloria, im sure they are.

I tried to buy one last year I believe, ended up getting a refund as GM doesn't make the LSJ pans anymore. Other pans I can't speak for but as long as you or Powell can source a new one you can still have one made.

So would this be a remedy for when I would take a corner so fast that the car wants to bog out and seem to shut down or would that be fuel pump related?

No, this is a remedy for when you take corners so fast the engine starts making rattling noises and you have to do a full rebuild. Ask me how I know :)