so if i recall correctly, almost all of the threads i've seen talking about oil pickups say that it should be 1/4" or so off the bottom of the pan. the FSM says it should touch the bottom of the pan. if you look at a stock pickup, it makes total sense that it should touch the bottom of the pan, as it has a large opening that is situated above the bottom of the pickup itself. it also looks like it has a channel in there that routes the oil in about 3/4 of a circle before it reaches the pickup tube.

i was looking at a milodon pickup, where the opening is simply a flat screen that faces the bottom of the pan. obviously, if that is touching the bottom of the pan it would severely restrict its intake ability.

i'm about to put my pan on, and the stock pickup is touching or very very close, and i was going to leave it that way, but i thought back to all the times i've read there should be clearance, and was wondering what are the thoughts on a stock pickup.

Never have or would have it touching.............

Why look for trouble. 1/4" off the pan won't hurt anything. Just a little tweak in the pickup tune. If anything, it should allow oil to get pulled in easier. It's not like that 14" will leave 4 quarts of oil in the bottom of the pan unused.

The stock design will work if its on the bottom.. but
some aftermarket pick ups pull from the bottom so a 1/4"
minimum... I like the stock design of the pick up.. its
a controlled setting.. on the other type if you cave in
the pan a little you can choke off the pick up

I also like the stock design because the pan supports the end of the pickup.

When run with a gap, vibration and possible resonance can cause the pickup to break and trash the engine. Several cases reported here.

The stock pickup has a "shoe" that creates correct clearance for oil flow. Some aftermarket pickups have something similar, some do not.

That is fine.

I would think the aftermarket pickups on several thousand hp motors would set em on the pan if that was the case but maybe they run a whole different deal............

Dom... they dont even run that type of pick up tube... either
trough the side of the pan with a swinging or fixed pick up...
he will be fine with the stock pick up on the bottom.... the
factory one works great on a few million cars and trucks
EDIT
the factory had to figure for ALL conditions like beating
on a car off roading

Gotcha, just us SLOW guys run this stuff........ In my warped mindI would still think the factory would account for pan contact/damage and have it off of the floor cos I know for sure I`ve tore down stock motors that weren't touching..........

Just factory tolerances.. if the pan is a touch deeper
and/or if the pick up is short... they wanted it in contact
with the bottom with slight pressure..... also most any BIG
HP engine runs a dry sump system

I've seen some of the aftermarket/homemade pickups with little "legs" to provide clearance. this made a lot of sense to me, but it may be just for race use.

Know very little about dry sump systems but even swinging pickups would need clearance I would think..............

As soon as you add a windage tray and another pan gasket, you just gave yourself another 1/4" clearance. I personally, have never broken a pickup tube, or even heard of a factory pickup breaking from vibration. I've run 3/8", 1/2" factory and Moroso pickups without issues.

The factory made it that large of diameter so it has a
good amount of surface area for contact on the bottom..
a few thin legs can end up wearing through the pan if
something is vibrating down there... but they might think
that for racing you would be pulling things apart in a semi
short time.. unlike a stock set up that goes 150K or better

On stock oil pans and pickups I use the dipstick pushed through the oil drain plug to make sure the bottom of the pick up is either touching the oil pan somewhere on it or that the bottom of the pickup is no more than the thickness, not the width of the dipstick off the bottom of the oil pan. On the after market pickups and oil pans I use the manufacturers recommendations, most Milidon screw in pickups have a small narrow shoe on the bottom of the pickup that is suppose to touch or be within 1/8 inch from the bottom of the oil pan is what I remember IHTHs

As said for stock delivery you have enough cutout in the stock pickup plus as said it on the bottom supports it & can keep the pickup from cracking from vibration over time. I have an aftermarket flat one & I drilled small holes in each corner & used small bolts/nuts/loctited/bolt threaded ends tweaked to lock em in place to get it ~5/16 off the bottom but with the bolts touching the bottom but this is a high RPM stock car small block. I dont see a problem with 1/4" & if no support I have no opinion if that is likely to be a problem or not on down the line