Herb McCandless oiling tips for big block/Hemi

This piece was written by Herb McC & is at least 10 years old-is it still good information? He was kind enough to answer oiling questions over the phone when I was rebuilding my small block stroker in the early '90s, and sent me oiling info on both small blocks and B/RB/Hemi engines. He's a pretty cool guy in my book.

OIL SYSTEMS B-RB-HEMI

McCandless Performance has many years of experience and has spent many hours on the Chrysler B-RB-Hemi motors. We have put together a list of suggested improvements for your oil system which can be made at little or no cost to you. It is very important that you follow these instructions exactly as they are described to you in the following report. Please be sure and call us if you have any questions at all on the procedures that are mentioned.

Remove all five main caps. With an 8-10” 9/32 drill bit drill the oil passages from the top of the main saddle to the lifter galley on the passenger side of the block to 9/32. Do not drill passages to the cam. Do not restrict the oil to the rockers. If you run a solid or roller lifter camshaft you should cut oil off to the lifters on the drivers side of the block. This can be done by following these instructions.

On the rear of the block, remove the pipe plug on the drivers side of the block next to the camshaft. You will need a 19/32 freeze plug. Install the 19/32 plug into the oil galley on the drivers side of the block. Drive the plug into the block about 1 1/4 inches or until you can see the passage coming across the back of the block that feeds the oil to the drivers side galley. Clean and install pipe plug. Oil is now cut off to the lifters on the drivers side of the block. The only way to cut oil off to the passenger side is by installing sleeves in each lifter.

In a street motor we highly recommend a Milodon #30930 pan and a street Hemi size pickup (1/2 inch pipe). The block must be re-drilled and tapped to 1/2” pipe. There is a standard size pickup available for this pan but why put a high volume oil pump on the motor and not increase the oil available to the pump? Once all passages are drilled, completely clean the block very thoroughly. We use a Milodon #34010 brush kit to clean all the oil passages and it works very well.

On a race motor the only system that we recommend is the Milodon dual line system. This has been the standard of the industry system on the motors for years. The dual line Milodon is very expensive but not near as costly as the price to replace a good race motor. Fix it right the first time.

We do not recommend using a stock pan that has been deepened. This type of pan runs out of oil under acceleration and deceleration. This can cause spun bearings and broken rods and also causes a costly repair bill.

Herb is a guy who is sorely missed. He spent over 45 minutes on the phone with me (I was just out of high school at the time) giving me FREE advice on proper component selection on a 440 I was building. He new I was young but never talked down to me . I always enjoyed all his clinics at the Nats. I know he still works behind the scenes for Indy and Edelbrock, but his tech talks were the best. Indy should learn some phone tips from him.

I'll second that. Herb is a Class Act. Very nice to talk to and doesn't talk down to anyone. He called me when I had a problem and answered all my dumb questions and gave me some very helpful suggestions.

So should I post the small block oiling tips, or does anyone care?

Sure, on the small block stuff!
Should the passenger side on the R/B roller cam also be plugged, or is it just the drivers side?
Jeff

Just the drivers side. The passenger side has to have the lifter bores bushed to block the oil off. There was at one time a oil galley tube from Direct Connection that could be installed after the galley was reamed, like the ones for the small bocks. Using this tube, only #4,#6 and #8 lifter bores could be blocked, blocking #2 would restrict flow. DC stopped selling it because people were not following instructions and blocking #2 bores and losing motors.

Cecil

Thanks for posting that.
It is basically what I have been doing, gathered from several others like Chuck Senatore (Muscle Motors).

Is this a NO NO with a hyd. Roller? Or is this still an excellent mod for even a Hydraulic type roller set up?
Btw thanks also for an excellent tech tip !

JEFF

For any hydraulic lifters, do not block the driver's side oil galley. How would the lifters "hydraulic" without pressure??? The others mods should be fine.

You can't block the oil to the lifter galley and use hydraulic tappets, roller or flat.

Thanks Guys for the advice.
I love a good thread like this one ..Very Informative !!
JEFF

Another tip when drilling for 1/2" pick up. Before drilling, oval the hole with a die grinder, away from the thinnest side of the pick up boss. This will move the hole center line so after drilling and tapping, there will be almost as much meat around the tube as the 3/8" pick up had. This will also allow for a little more clearance grinding when using a stroker crank.

Cecil

Quote:

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Another tip when drilling for 1/2" pick up. Before drilling, oval the hole with a die grinder, away from the thinnest side of the pick up boss. This will move the hole center line so after drilling and tapping, there will be almost as much meat around the tube as the 3/8" pick up had. This will also allow for a little more clearance grinding when using a stroker crank.

Cecil

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i've never tried it that way. i don't like drill bits and engine blocks very close to each other in my shop. i use a bridgeport to make the hole for the 1/2" pickup. an endmill will move the hole exactly where it needs to be. i also mill to the bottom of the poassage, radius the turn and open the other end to match the modifications that i make to the oil pump. among other things, LOL>.