DeTomaso Mailing List: April 2000, Message #352

FWIW, Dick also fabricates and welds roll bars, roll cages, chassis
stiffening kits, delrin suspension bushings, etc.  Check out his web site
for details.
His 10 QT pan not only increases capacity he has further re-designed the pan
with a baffled and trap door pan with a windage tray and modified oil pump
pick-up.  He does excellent work at a fair price and I have no hesitation in
recommending his work. 
MD  

> ----------
> From: 	Dick Drenske[SMTP:ddrenske@murraycompany.com]
> Reply To: 	Dick Drenske
> Sent: 	Tuesday, April 11, 2000 10:00 AM
> To: 	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject: 	Re: More Porterfield, and oil pans...
> 
> Mike
> 
> I make an after market pan that holds 10 quarts inc. filter
> It's baffled and has trap doors
> I also use a good windage tray and change the pump pickup
> 
> Take a look at my web site - it's still under construction but the info
> with pictures is there
> www.need4speed.ohgolly.com 
> It's in the catalogue section
> 
> If you are in the market let me know
> 
> 
> >>> <MikeLDrew@aol.com> 04/11/00 12:44AM >>>
> Hi guys,
> 
> I spent this weekend thrashing my Shelby GT-350 replica at Thunderhill 
> raceway.  Check out:
> 
> http://members.aol.com/mikeldrew/Thunderhill.jpg 
> 
> I had installed Porterfield pads about a year ago, and have been very
> pleased 
> with their performance.  Thunderhill is an especially power- and 
> brake-intensive track (or it can be anyway) and I pushed the car harder
> than 
> I ever have before.  I started to detect substantial brake system
> degradation 
> near the end of my run sessions on Saturday.  
> 
> After the last run, I managed to get some unsolicited help and the next
> thing 
> I knew, the car was in the air and all four brakes were being bled.  The 
> rears looked nice and fresh, but the front brake fluid looked awful.  I'd
> had 
> a new master cylinder installed by a reputable Mustang shop, but they must
> 
> have used very non-fresh brake fluid 'cause it looked like crap.  
> 
> (BTW, a reminder--any bottle of brake fluid in your garage that has been 
> opened already is GARBAGE.  Brake fluid is like some vaccines--once you 
> uncork the bottle, you use it or throw it away, since it can easily gather
> 
> moisture and render it relatively ineffective at higher temps, even if the
> 
> bottle was kept securely tightened.)
> 
> Anyway, the following day I noted great improvement.  On the last session
> I 
> decided to experiment and went out of my way to absolutely punish the
> brakes, 
> running from about 100 mph down to 30 mph with absolutely max braking, 
> several times a lap.  After about five laps, I began to smell the stink of
> 
> brakes and the performance started to slip.  I then ran a moderate lap to
> let 
> 'em cool, and found the performance was right back up where it had been.
> 
> There was light to moderate brake pad dusting on the front wheels at the
> end 
> of the weekend (eight 25-minute sessions), nothing serious or worth 
> mentioning.  Also FWIW the rear pads are standard issue (I have a Lincoln 
> Versailles rear end with discs) so it's quite possible that the
> Porterfields 
> were still hanging in there but the rear brakes had checked out.
> 
> I'm told that cooling is the key to brake longevity, and I've got all the 
> hardware necessary to install super-trick brake cooling ducts to the
> front.  
> The only problem is a lack of TIME to do so before I drive the car in
> Vegas.
> 
> Anyway, the R4-S compound seems like the best overall solution for a car
> that 
> is primarily driven on the street but sees occasional track use.  If I 
> started my braking slightly earlier for each corner and didn't abuse them,
> 
> they would last forever without fading (or so it seemed.)  It took a 
> concerted effort on my part to induce brake fade.  I haven't yet pulled a 
> wheel to see how pad life is looking, but this is my fifth open-track day
> on 
> these pads and I noticed no significant wear after the first four days.
> 
> Regarding oil pans:  I'm currently running a borrowed original 1966 Shelby
> 
> T-pan, a 7.5 quart pan that supposedly has baffles.  I own a reproduction 
> T-pan which developed a crack, and although it's fixed I haven't had the 
> opportunity to swap it back in.
> 
> Although I never experienced (or at least never noticed) any problems with
> my 
> reproduction pan, with this pan I noted that while my oil pressure stayed 
> right at 60 psi down the straights and in all RH turns, during extended LH
> 
> turns the pressure would suddenly drop down to 20 psi, sometimes less,
> even 
> running ordinary Z-rated street tires.  Yow!  I suppose it didn't keep 
> dropping only because the turn ended.  I also noted pressure drops during
> my 
> especially abusive straight-line brake testing.  Thus I had to modify my 
> driving style (read:  slow down) in all LH turns to keep the engine alive.
> 
> That's no fun when you're chasing somebody and you think you might be
> faster! 
> :>)
> 
> So anyway, although it's been mentioned on this list many times in the
> past, 
> I thought it was worth mentioning again that although the standard Ford
> oil 
> pan issued with the Pantera 351C is fine for street duty (there's
> virtually 
> no way you will be able to generate the sustained cornering/braking loads
> on 
> the street to overcome the rather elementary design), the stock pan can 
> quickly become a limitation on a roadrace track if the car is driven "con 
> brio."  
> 
> FWIW I didn't develop any problems until late in the first day, as I was 
> gradually working up my speed from one run to the next.  When driven at 
> 8/10ths, there was no problem whatsoever.  So if you're entered in the 
> slowest run group and don't see yourself going like hell, but instead just
> 
> want to drive considerably faster than you could on the street, you will 
> probably be okay with the stock oil pan (but check your gauge to be sure.)
> 
> But if you've got super-sticky tires, a heavy right foot and a yearn to
> turn 
> and burn, realize that the resultant oil pressure drop could be followed 
> shortly by the sound of connecting rods making a valient bid for freedom
> from 
> the confines of your engine block! :>)
> 
> Mike
> 
>