The one piece sandwich style windage tray used in the 428CJ engines is stamped out of 18 gage material.  If making a frame to support the screen material, then 16 gage material would likely be more suitable.  I've yet to make a simple windage tray in this design but the EMC engine project would need one that sandwiches between the pan and the block in which to fit the rules.  Up to now, I've either installed the windage tray in the pan or incorporated it in the 'main support girdle'.

The scraper I use in the Hurricane sandwiches between the block and pan.  I took a piece of thin cardboard the length of the block (not including the timing cover) and about 3 inches wide, and put holes in it so that pan bolts and flat washers would hold it in place.  It is on the passenger side of the block.  I rotated the engine backwards and trimmed the cardboard as needed to clear the rotating parts.  I kept the clearance at about 1/8".  I transferred the pattern to some 18 gauge and cut it out.  Put it back on the engine and double checked clearances.  I left tabs on the scraper that align with the main caps and they rest on the bolt heads.  Then I took another piece of 18 gauge the length of the scraper and rolled a radius of about 2" on it lengthwise.  I trimmed the rear corner so it would fit into the pan, and fastened it to the bottom side of the scraper.  I did this to keep the scraped oil from slamming against the pan gasket, and to direct the oil downward to the pan.  I have  screen in the pan made from 1/8" hardware cloth.

I don't know how much horsepower I gained, but when I installed it my car picked up 1/10th sec. in the quarter.

Charlie, put the scraper on the passenger side.  If it is on the other side, oil would pile up on top of it and have to keep circulating around and around.

John

A 10th is worth working for if you are a racer - the big gains are probably at the upper end of the rpm band however - not especially street horsepower. Dyno guys would know best. On the other hand - the crank scrapers are a pretty simple part and who knows - maybe it'll be just enough to dust a contender.

Here in Tucson, I get sheetmetal shims and plates (often up to .250 thickness) cut by a guy with a Laser - and there are several other businesses around elsewhere that can do the same thing. Lately we have had some heavier harder stuff cut with a 50,000 psi waterjet. They just need a decent drawing to get it set up on XY coordinates. As a lifetime garage dweller - I'd probably try to make my own first....................

Cad drawings sound good, however every stroke, and every rod configuration would require different depths of scallops on the leading edge, so development time would be considerable, and several folks would have to make patterns of the different bottom ends and make them available.  Mine is for a 3.44 stroke and C2AE rods with palnuts.  I loaned mine to Rick Coder to copy, but I'm not sure he did, he probably just looked at how it was made.  As an aircraft mechanic, he has access to sheet metal and the machines to form it.  I'll bet his looks a lot more professional than mine.

I think you're right, the biggest help is in the upper RPM range, both in cutting windage and getting oil back to the pan quicker.  Street gains would be small.  Peace of mind would be present, though.

John

Steve,

I plan to model it with CAD.  I try to model all of the parts I make.  As John says, it is not necessarily a universal thing.  In my case it will be for a 3.47" stroke and aftermarket rods.

I put one of the Chrysler studs in today.  They are pretty long.  I didn't have my oil pan with me to make sure that they don't interfere.

Here's what it looks like.

It's about 2 5/16" above the top of the main cap.  That is with 14 threads in the block, which keeps the stud above the oil passage to the main.  JM suggests that the threads go no farther than 1 1/8" in the assembly errors.  14 threads is about 1 1/16".  I don't think the extra length will be a problem - so long as the oil pan fits.

The only thing I can think of is how do I go about torquing the main nut?  It looks like I'll need a real deep socket or a crows foot.

To add to John’s comments:  the crankshaft counterweights and rods still swing below the lower pan rails so if building a full sized windage tray, some curvature will still be required to clear these items.  The design of a full width windage tray is two fold.  First is for it to direct the oil back to the pan instead of back into the crankcase area and next is to keep any windage created in the crankcase area away from the sump.  A good design will facilitate oil returning to the sump and/or inhibit oil in the sump being pulled back up into the crankcase.  If using the windage screen material supplied by the pan manufacturers, this material is directional so it’s important to note the direction it’s installed.

Ideally, the windage tray needs to be a close as possible to the rotating assembly minimize windage and facilitate additional oil removal.  Placing the windage tray further away from the rotating assembly just gives more oil the potential of being pulled back up into the crankcase area.

As John said, if building an oil wiper or scraper into package, then that needs to be on the passenger side of the block.  If installed on the oil filter side, it will inhibit oil from actually returning back to the pan or sump.  Clearance will be dictated by personal preference but definitely needs to be far enough away that actual metal contact will not take place.

Here are pics of a stock 428CJ windage tray and a main support girdle for a Y that incorporates built in windage and oil wiper control.  The Y main support that’s pictured is generic in that it doesn’t require any trimming or fitting with up to a 3.44” stroke.

John

What is the part number and make of the long studs / did I miss that info?

The 428CJ windage tray has the same clearance to the rods throughout its length so it's just an illusion in the picture in that it looks deeper at the back.  The installed engines typically sit in the chassis at an angle so the drain back would be a result of any engine angle.  The windage tray itself has louvers in the sides to facilitate oil removal which is key to removing the oil as quickly as possible from the crankcase area.

Yes.

I don't have time to make and install it this week.  With this template and a bunch of measurements I'm hoping I'll be able to get most of it together before pulling the pan to install.

Here is my solution to torquing the long studs

A spark plug socket with the center drilled to 25/64":

And another socket on the hex of the sparkplug socket:

It worked like a charm.