FActory literature for 277 plymouth poly V8 http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/100/Page08.htm I was pretty sure I saw a similar feature (oil pick up with a built in air pocket to float the pickup) for the early Hemi when I was snooping around on the imperialclub site, but could not find it just now when I looked again. I picture getting the pickup to pivot or whatever to "float" is inviting some leaks to **** in air.
I found the reference. It looks like it was a common Mopar design. This is a factory oiling system tech manual from 1948 . http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/015/Page01.htm http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/015/Page05.htm
The ones I've seen used a rubber "O" ring to seal the pivot point on the pickup tube. We replaced them with solid pickup tubes. With modern oil systems, there shouldn't be much 'sediment" on the bottom of the pan like you might have seen with the 50s open road draft tube, non detergent oil, and toilet paper filters, if any filters at all. Gene
The floating pick up is an outdated feature of the mopar oiling system with today's detergent oils, weld the strainer cup to the pick-up tube after determining pan clearance (5/16"-3/8") to eliminate a possible failure. The pivot on these were generally below the oil level anyway so they really couldn't **** air but there is a possibility of the strainer cup getting hung up.
The Jalopy Journal
