Reply to "Racing Oil Pans (from another thread)"

I may be mistaken but I believe the Armondo pan is identical to the Aviaid.

There is no room to go on the sides with additional tanks on the Pantera because of the rails.

The Mustangs have them and the Cobras also.

Initially the R model GT350's used the Aviaid Cobra 289 race pan. The 289 Cobra does not have a cross brace behind the sump like the Mustang does so the pan is long like the Panteras is.

The pan that became called the R model pan is essentially a 289 Cobra race pan with the shortening of the sump to accommodate the Mustangs rear cross brace.

If you look at the "Trans-am" Mustang pans you will see two that I know of.

One is by Aviaid and ends or starts under the balancer like a stock pan. The Bud Moore version extends forward under the front anti-sway bar at a 45 degree angle AND has a skid pad added.

The skid pad was necessary because chassis travel but the forward extension dangerously low.

All of these pans are chassis specific in order to fit the chassis of the intended vehicle.

SOME of the vintage Mustang racers will ONLY use the AVIAID stating that they blew engines with other manufactures pans.

I can tell you that my Canton Mustang pan is IDENTICAL TO THE AVIAID but there are at least two racers that I know of that blew engines with it and blamed the pan. They went back to Aviaid.

Yes the oil pans are interesting.

The Pantera doesn't have the reputation for blowing up race engines due to inadequate oiling.

The problem they had when they were factory raced was that Bud Moore, who supplied the engines to Detomaso used Hank the Crank crankshafts which were internally balanced.

For some inexplicable reason the Mallory metal wouldn't stay in the crankshaft in the Pantera, and yet that engine was being raced in NASCAR at the time as delivered to Detomaso.

Very strange. Maybe just those Italian saints needed homage that they didn't get.

When the cars were running they were as fast as anything on the track. The engines just wouldn't stay together.

Detomaso asked Ford for help on engine development but this was at a time when Ford was bailing out of the Pantera program.

Bad timing for sure.

Detomaso blamed Ford, and Shelby too. Fact is he needed to step up and take his own destiny in his own hands and was not capable of organizing a team himself.

Anyway, the Aviaid is the original race design pan and it works. If it isn't broken...don't fix it.