SBF Oil Return & Galley Plug Mods

[@FairladyS130]

Your thorough approach and description almost makes me want to get one of these engines just to do the mods. Of course oil drain back is very important on any performance engine.

[@billsgarage]

Go for it, there are several for sale online! 😊 Thanks for watching!

[@Rekless70]

Ben Alameida has a great tip for better oil flow on his channel. If you watch this video at the 5;31 mark, there is a cap directly over Bill's hand. Its an inverted v shape cast in the block, which passes oil from one side to the other. Ben says this cap impinges the oil flow and should be installed upside down. If you look at a drawing of oil passages this makes sense. Thank you Bill for this great info! I just watched you video on main girdles, very informative. Thank you.

[@billsgarage]

Yup, I've seen that video. I've never tried it myself, but it definitely makes sense. Thanks for your comments, and thanks for watching!

[@Rekless70]

Comments are great. Great channel, just subscribed.

[@billsgarage]

Awesome, thank you!

[@jdwht2455]

One that you missed was drilling an approximate 1/16" hole in a front galley plug to add lube oil to the timing chain and gears. Also, many if not all late 5.0/302 engines (i.e. '95 up) have tapped front galley holes.

[@billsgarage]

I don't ever drill that hole, I've never seen a timing chain gear wear in any appreciable way regardless of how the engine gets punished. I'd rather have all of the oil go to the lifters. Thanks for watching!

[@brianhdueck3372]

I thank you for your I depth tutorial style in your videos. Got me signed up now. I have had quite a number of these sbf. An issue I have had is installing E7 heads on early 302 block where these front and rear returns don’t line up. Not hard to correct with a die grinder if you don’t want to upsize the hole. I’ve had it up to where 1/2 the hole has been off on aftermarket heads. You have to watch this area. I don’t have special machining equipment so for upsizing I always go up in steps from 7/16 to 1/2”. Usually I use 2 intermediate sizes and then the half inch. Never had it go off centre that way.

[@billsgarage]

Interesting, I didn't know that about the E7 heads. I wonder if it's due to the return passage being in a slightly different place on the roller cam blocks, or if it's just imprecise casting & machining. Thanks for the comment, and thanks for watching!

[@BrentFrancis-h8o]

I like that you have a Mustang II. Light cars that fly with a good V8.

[@billsgarage]

Definitely light and fast! And they don't get the hate anymore like they used to. More often than not lately I find myself having to explain to people what it is.

[@johngoodwin2384]

Great choice you made in pistons 🏁

[@billsgarage]

Thanks! 👍

[@mortimersnerd9991]

I agree that an HV oil pump in a 302 isn't usually a good idea. I had one that would run fine at idle, but driving it around, it would empty the pan. I also have a II, with its small oil pan made for a bad combination. I'm using trickflow heads. I ended up welding my own 7Q pan and replaced the oil pump with a standard one because of this.

[@billsgarage]

In my '77. I switched from stock to a Milidon 8qt pan (which fits pretty well after a few strategic hammer blows) after my high-volume pump drained the pan, and it worked out pretty well with the increased capacity but I never stopped worrying about it! Thanks for watching!

[@job1bf]

I have heard people drill a tiny hole in that front plug to spray oil on the distributor gear. Have you done anything like this?

[@billsgarage]

Great question! I've never done this on one of my engines, but a lot of people do it to ensure good oil supply to the distributor gear (as you said) instead of relying on oil splash or drainback for lubrication. Opening up the large drainback hole at the forward end of the lifter valley allows more oil to drain down onto the distributor gear and that seems to work for me, but if you want positive oil presure to spray onto the gear, drilling a hole in the galley oil plug right next to it will work very well. As long as the hole is small (no bigger than 0.030" to 0.035") then you won't see any loss in oil pressure, not even at idle. One recomendation if you do drill the hole - install and tighten the plug all the way, then mark where the distributor gear is in relation to the plug and drill the hole so that it is angled towards the gear. If you drill the hole straight through the center of the plug, oil will just spray out onto the timing cover past the gear.

[@adamballinger1358]

I drill a .025 in the plug right behind the distributer ,have done 4 engines that way now and it helps the dist. gear alot and no loss of pressure.

[@Backfire10]

How come you did not do the one at the top rear? I did all mine today. Thanks.

[@billsgarage]

Are you talking about the crossover for the lifter oil galley passages? Where the plug goes in the top? I don't usually do anything there. What do you do back there?

[@Backfire10]

I tap with a 1/2 npt tap and insert plug. I had the press in plug pop out one time. Can't take that chance.

[@billsgarage]

Good advice, thanks! I've had pleny of those plugs leak before, including on this build when I primed the oil system (replaced and resealed it). I'll look at installing a threaded plug on the next one!

[@Backfire10]

Good video. Thanks for your helpful insite.

[@njseashorechas2698]

What about the oil galley press in plug in the top back of the block? Ben Almeda racing recommends pressing it in upside down to improve oil flow. Do you think this is necessary? kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZOQqZRtlqx7e9E

[@billsgarage]

That's an interesting idea, but plugs are tapered so that they seal effectively when installed in the intended orientation, and installing them in the opposite direction means that they are sealing only on the rim of the plug instead of the entire side flange. Ben Almeda has obviously been using this approach for a long time, but he's solely focused on racing, so he doesn't need to worry about long-term reliability as you would on a street engine. Leakage of oil from this plug leads directly to loss of oil pressure, so I would be cautious about trying something like this on a street engine like mine. In my opinion, a much better approach would be to blend the area between the two passages with a grinder in order to promote better flow from one side to the other, effectively opening up the chamber between the two sides and eliminating the problem that flipping the plug is meant to address. As added insurance against plug leakage, you could tap the block and install a threaded plug. I'll probably be doing something like this on the next engine that I build. Great question, and thanks for watching!

[@Rekless70]

Just noticed this comment, after i posted about Ben.

[@rodneyturner6892]

What is the best v8 ford made my opinion is the 289 / 302 sbf

[@billsgarage]

I agree!

[@justinschmidt9180]

So what size npt tap do i use

[@billsgarage]

A 1/4-18 NPT pipe thread tap will fit nicely into the stock oil passages once the press-in plugs are removed, just be sure to start slowly and carefully and be sure to remove all of the shavings. Good luck!