Small Block Ford Dry Sump Oil Pans
What oil pan to use? There are a couple of pans that will fit the early Mustang. The issue with the Mustang is that the steering drag link goes under the oil pan, almost touching it in the stock configuration. So with all the linkage under the pan you still need to run a shallow pan.
A couple of options came to mind, and my usual goto place would have been Aviaid. Upon calling them I got the word that their pan would not fit. Seemed odd, but OK. So onto what another vintage race was using and that was the Canton Oil Pan. Looked pretty good and generally liked Canton products. So as luck would have it I got a discount coupon from JEG's and got a $75 off deal on it. Was still on the high priced side. Almost immediately after I had found a company called Champ Pans. They made a large variety of oil pans from may different makes. Sure enough they had one for the Small Block Ford, and in a few different configurations to boot. Ok I had one on the way but was so curious that I had to order one. Even with the generous discount on the Canton pan the one from Champ Pans was cheaper. Below is a bunch of pics of each of the pans. Some testing of fitment was in order as I have always had a problem on the 4 Bolt rear cap that would require cap work in addition to some pan hammering.
One other reason that I had ordered the Champ Pan was that they were available with 3 scavenger pick ups. I was trying to use a 4 stage pump and this might be the way to get there. The Canton pan was only with two.
From a quality standpoint I would have to go with the Champ Pan. Better welding and fitment.
System Parts
Canton Racing Products Dry Sump Oil Pan Small Block Ford 2 -12 Pickups (12-444)
Champ Pans Dry Sump Oil Pan Small Block Ford 3 -12 Pickups (CP302KO-3 )
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Canton Racing Products Dry Sump Pan 12-444
I had seen this pan many times while looking for a dry sump pan. I have had good luck with other Canton products, just not their oil pans. I had a front sump on the Mustang when I first put it together and after beating my brains out trying to find an oil leak it ended up being pin holes in the welding. Not hard to fix but a pain to find and pull the pan.
But could have been just a bad one, otherwise I generally Like Canton products. This pan is somewhat pricey, in the $575 range when I last looked. But it's shallow and seemed like one that would do the job. One thing that I was looking for was using a 4 stage pump which has 3 scavenge sections. This pan can has only 2 -12 pickups. Which really was not a going to be a problem, but you know how it is, 3 is better then 2...
Driver Side View of the Canton Pan
This is the driver side view. Nice and clean. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Just show and tell.
Canton Pan Kickout Depth
The shallow nature of this pans kickout can be seen here. This could be a really nice feature if I do run into a clearance issue. I'm hoping not since I have a 4 stage pump. This is something to think about before purchase of a pump! Oh well I may or may not have a problem...
Bottom View of the Canton Pan
Looks like lots of welding, and I can't say I like the looks of some of the beads but I think that's what you get these days, but given the premium price of this pan I would have really expected better. Also some odd welds into the pan rail area.
Canton Pans Windage Tray
Looking in and across the length of the pan you can see the windage tray. Also the opening into the kick out where the scavenge ports are. This does not cover the full width of the pan, not sure if the design is good or bad, but here it is.
Poor Finish Inside Canton Pan
I don't know if this is going to leak, outside welds are complete, but inside the pan look half assed. Lots of turds and incomplete plating due to ugly and dirty welds. In looking at this now I'm going to spray some carb cleaner in to see if anything on the outside gets moist. This is just plain bad craftsmanship, and again this is a premium pan.
Canton Pan Fitment and Hole Alignment
This is what the alignment looks like with the 4 Bolt rear main cap on the aluminum Ford Racing Block. This is not necessarily a problem with the Canton pan but just shows that some hammering will be required in the rear of the pan.
Dry Sump Pan Wrap Up
Well it seems that I'm sold on the Champ Pans 100%. The only issues that might arise are fitment into the chassis and related starter issues. Some of it I would expect so I will be mocking up the motor with a pan and related bellhousing and starter. Otherwise the quality of the much less expensive Champ Pans is hands down better then the expensive Canton pan.
Back to the start - Ford Dry Sump Project on the Main page
Passenger Side View of the Canton Pan
This is the passenger side view. You can seem of the design choices of this pan. The side kick out is pretty tight to the pan. You can also see the two -12 AN fittings of this pan. I do like the gold finish on the pan, but it also show brightly some of the welds that are just OK in some places.
Champ Pans from JR. Manufacturing CP302KO-3
I was skeptical of the Champ Pans before I got it. Hard to really tell from their website how they were close up. After opening the pan I was pleasantly surprised. Welds look pretty good, as well as the overall design. You will notice that this pan has the three -12 AN scavenge pickups vs. the two for the Canton pan.
Driver Side of the Champ Pan
This is a bit different then the Canton. This has the bottom plate that wraps up the side. Also nice stiffening ridges in most of the stamped sheet metal. No gold, but silver plating, but one thing that looks better is smother and more consistent weld beads.
Champ Pans Kickout Depth
This is where things get a bit different. The depth of the kickout is about 1/2" out from the edge of the rail. This Canton was about flush. I'm really hoping that this will not be an issue. I think before doing anything a mock build with a bellhousing and a started would be a minimum requirement to see how things fit. On thing that pops into my head is with the Tilton Bellhousing I'm using will I have any starter clearance issues???? This holds true to the Canton pan as well.
Champ Pans Bottom View
Much nicer and LESS welding in this design then the Canton pan. Again nice one piece bottom with stiffening ridges in the added sheet metal parts.
Champ Pans Windage Tray
This runs almost the full width of the pan. Again, not sure which style is better but I do like that the baffling runs a lot more of the width of the pan.
Champ Pans Internal Finish
Unlike the poorly finished Canton pan, this looks pretty good. No welding boogers and plating and all seams are internally welded. You can also see the width of the windage tray and that it's covers most of the bottom of the pan.
Champ Pans Block Fitment
The pan from Champ Pans (sounds odd to say) fit better then the Canton pan but will still require a bit of work to make fit. One odd thing, and I'll have to try the Canton pan on a new gasket was that the holes spacing might not be uniform but might be my imagination or the picture is off at an angle enough (see above of Canton Fitment)
