Is anyone using Speedway's oil pump? Good? Bad? Are the reviews on this part the same as that of the Melling pump?
Does anyone think Speedway builds their own pumps? Maybe this is a plain-box Melling pump? Or more likely from India or other offshore locale. We need a HAMBer who owns/works at a testing lab to compare products for us. Cause I ain't gonna install one to save myself a few bucks.
No idea about the Speedway pumps but I find stock Ford, Lincoln and Merc pumps work just fine for competition AND street use.
Whatever pump you use...check end play, side clearance, anf gear lash. This will void guarantee on a new one but who cares...if it's good, no loss, if bad you sved your engine. When Mellings stories started appearing from dome VERY good flathead mechanics, I popped the covers on some junk Ford ones I had just for the pickups. Including the one with the screen entirely choked wit, so help me, GRAVEL. The checked out within specs... Personally, I would check out a Ford one, and clean, replacing only bushings if needed, and use what I found that was within spec. Ford accepted ones will have the PN on the body, from memory what you want is 8BA-part number-B. The -B is the late version with siral gears.
Stay the course with the Melling pumps, they work fine. Haven't had single issue to date! Here's an excerpt from an e-mail I recieved just this morning from my friend/customer on a very recent build. This is an Eagle crank with some .003" clearance on the mains and .002" on all the (Scat) rods. (quote) Since leaving New York we have logged in about a thousand miles, cruising at 2200 RPM the oil pressure is 55 pounds, cooling temp is a steady 175 degrees. At idle the oil pressure is 30/35 pounds with temp staying at 175degrees. With the extra horsepower and torque you build into this special project Flathead the mountains of Route 80 in PA were no problem. The heavy Merc pulled any steep mountain at 70 MPH with no effort. (end quote) This is a Merc convertible, reasonably heavy, and headed to the James Dean run (I believe)! This should be a testament to the Melling (M-19) oil pumps!! The numbers above are indicative of almost all the Flatheads I've been involved in building! This is a "copper" head gasket build on the 292" tri-power platform! Thanks, Gary in N.Y. P.S. Not certain who is mfg Speedway's pumps? When we have a proven combo we stay with it, no reason to make change!
Problems noted by people with good to excellent mechanical knowlege: Sloppy side and end clearance of gears, one example with seat for pressure valve machined incorrecly so valve could not seat, and undersize on the casting where it enters the block allowing a lot of oil to be discharged there. There isn't anything any more vital, so if using a new one check all of the above against specs and against a stock casting. I would find an original with good gears needing no more than bushings, fully clean and check if shaft checks out as good.
And , oh for the good old days when Joblot allowed me to roam their warehouse and dig to the bottom of a 55 gallon drum full of NOS flathead and EL pumps and another barrel of new pickups!
And oh for the good old days when we would have a barrel full of 97's and 94's by the side of the station free for the taking................
I don't own or work at a test lab, but I did build my own oil pump tester. Cut the rear section out of an old block and rigged it so I could power it with a drill. Works really well. Most of the old pumps I've tested work just fine. I don't think think they are a high wear item, but I stilll want to know before I put one in an engine.
Just talked to tech rep at Melling about m19 relieve valve sticking on pumps that are drilled off center he stated that they had no problems with them sticking and that they would not warranty a pump that sold over one year ago altho it is still unused and in box. Let buyer beware. Will contact Speedway and see if they will make it good for I got it from them.
Speedway said they would make it good, buy sending me a good pump or refunding my money. I bought this pump in 2007. Speedy Bill is ok by me. Thanks
Just got my new pump from speedway, speedway number melling M19 pump no problem with pressure relief cap being off center like last one. Thanks speedway for going the distance and replacing a pump purchased in 2007.
I would like to let you guys know that I too received an M-19 with an eccentric bypass seat which doesn't seal. I purchased the pump from Speedway in Jan 2008, but am just now getting around to installing it. Because of this thread, I checked the bypass with machinist's blue, and it's absolutely not sealing. Speedway Motors have agreed to replace the pump. I cannot praise their customer service highly enough--they are a true class act.
I know this is an old thread, but I just fired my new engine this week. It is a completely rebuilt 258" engine with new pistons, bearings and other parts. The crank was turned .010"-.010" and I am running a MAX-1 cam. It has a Speedway brand oil pump, not a Mellings supplied by them. It exhibited some strange behavior that has me a little worried. First of all, when I initially spun the engine on 12 volts with no plugs, it would produce about 25 lbs on a mechanical gauge. What bothered me is that it took about 20 seconds to get there, even on subsequent spins. When I fired the engine and ran it at 2000 RPM for cam break-in, the oil pressure quickly came up to 25 psi and seemed to stop there. On watching the gauge, it started slowly moving up and after about 45 seconds, it got to 55 psi. it ran there for a while until the oil warned up and then dropped back to 40 psi. After about 15 minutes of running, I dropped it back to an idle. At 500 rpm, I had only 10 psi. I know this is adequate, but it kind of startled me. further running at 1500-2500 rpm resulted in a 35 psi reading on the gauge. I know this is satisfactory performance and may be even better for the engine than what I am used to, but it is different enough to bother me. Earlier this summer, I built another flathead engine and ran it on this same test stand, with the same gauges. This engine was a stock '51 Merc that I had scored about 20 years ago and got real lucky on. I was expecting to have to rebuild it, but when I tested the compression, all 8 cylinders were between 95 and 110 (this on an engine that had been "sitting under the stairs" for at least 20 years). I decided that with compression like that, I should at least try to fire it. It started easily, and immediately had 55 psi of oil pressure when running, which dropped to 25 psi at an idle when warm. I put a set of Edmunds heads, a Rochester 2GC, and a Mallory dual-point on the engine, cleaned and painted it, and put it into my '51 club coupe. It has been there for about 4 months and 2500 miles, and still runs sweet. It runs 55 psi hot or cold at speed, and holds 25 psi at idle when warmed up. Even though the oil pressure numbers on the rebuilt engine are "OK", it troubles me that it won't hold the pressure that a used engine will. The basic machine work was done by the guy at the local NAPA, who really seems to know what he's doing. The engine starts immediately, is very responsive, sounds great, and is everything I would have hoped for, except for the oil pressure readings. I suspect that the oil pump is the culprit. I checked my stash, and I have three used Fomoco pumps, so I am going to check them and grab the best one and refurbish it in case I need it down the line. Bottom line? I feel that saving $100 on the Speedway pump was a big mistake. I wouldn't do it again. After reading what I have about Mellings pumps lately, I'm glad I have a couple of genuine Ford pumps in reserve.
I have a setup to test oil pumps and almost invariably the old stock pump is right up to the task. I wouldn't trust the one you have in the engine.
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