keep in mind the oil pump spins at 1/2 the speed of the crank so at 2000rpm on the tach the oil pumps spinning at 1000rpm. and the oil pump gears can only move as much oil volume as the gears sweep volume allows, high volume oil pumps have longer gears so they trap and push a greater volume of oil with each rotation
standard volume oil pumps use shorter gears than high volume oil pumps, the 10%-25% extra flow is the result of the 10%-25% extra gear length
Ive always found the best results from keeping the low rpm pressure , in the 15psi-20psi at hot idle and no more than 65psi at high rpms,is really useful, the voluum required depends on the way the engines clearances and oil systems designed or modified ,voluum/viscosity/clearances in the approximately stock range works fine in most .
I like high voluum pumps but I certainly don,t use them IF the engines nearly stock as the standard Z28 SBC pump works fine
"the standard volume pump gears are about 1.2" long the high volume pump gears are about 1.5 inches long (depends on manufacturer)
heres the discriptions right from chevy
12555884
SBC Oil Pump, High Pressure Z28/LT1. Production high-pressure oil pump with 1.20" gears.Will produce 60-70 psi oil pressure. Does not include screen. The pickup tube dia. is 5/8" for this pump.
62.17
the true high voluum pumps like this below are not necessary UNTILL youve done extensive mods that require the expra oil flow voluum
14044872
SBC Oil Pump, High-Volume. This high-volume pump has1.50" long gears.It has approximately 25% more capacity than a production pump at standard pressure. Does not include screen."
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2187
ONE VERY COMMON MISTAKE MADE by guys swapping to a high volume oil pump is failure to carefully measure the pick-up to oil pan floor clearances, because the high volume oil pump has longer gears it tends to move the location of the oil pump pick-up lower towards the oil pan floor, if that distance is reduced too less than about 3/8" the common symptom is good oil pressure at idle but rapidly falling pressure as the rpms build as the oil pump intake is restricted significantly, this results in the common MYTH that high volume oil pumps pump the pan dry as rpms increase. when the truth is that its the result of not carefully verifying clearances
the answer to that question of what SMALL BLOCK CHEVY PUMP TO USE, depends on the application and the size of your oil pan, if your using a windage tray, your bearing clearances and a dozen other factors, reading thru the links posted below should be very helpful.
youll seldom have any problem using melling 10552, if its properly installed, in almost any small block, is roughly similar to the old Z28 pump and supplies a bit of extra volume at near stock pressure if you don,t install the optional high pressure spring, that pump should be fine in about 90% of the street strip engine builds

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mel-10552
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related threads to read thru
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READ THIS THREAD[/b]




small block pumps have 7 tooth gears and 4 bolt covers and don,t provide the smooth oil flow rates the 12 tooth, and 5 bolt cover big block gear pumps provide


In this comparison, you can see the major difference between a high-volume small-block pump gear (left) and the Rat motor gear (right). The Rat motor pump enjoys a larger diameter and more pump teeth that should create a more stable output curve.
Read more: http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles/cc ... z2RyXV6xCI
big block vs small block chevy oil pump

your typical small block oil pump has a 4 bolt cover, a 5/8" pick-up tube diameter and the pick-up presses into the cover , it has the smaller 7 tooth gears

your typical big block oil pump has a 5 bolt cover, a 3/4" pick-up tube diameter and the pick-up presses into the pump body , it has the larger more efficient 12 tooth gears and in many cases can be mounted on a small block, but its usually not required
BIG BLOCK CHEVY 5 BOLT cover pump

SBC 4 BOLT COVER OIL PUMP

SBC pumps have 7 tooth gears and BBC pumps generally have 12 tooth gears making the flow more consistent
oil is sucked up the pick-up (or pushed in by the pressure difference, if you need to be technical) into the pump body and swept along the outside walls of the pump,by the rotating gear teeth,and forced thru the pumps pressurized exit port passage in the pump casting, then the pressurized oil is forced thru the rear main cap on the block, fluids are not compressible, so , if the resistance to the oil flow increases, the resulting oil pressure increases until it exceeds the bypass circuit springs resistance, on the bypass circuit piston , this forces open the bypass circuit piston in its bore allowing the excess pressurized oil to bleed back into the low pressure side of the oil pump casting, thru a passage in the oil pump casting designed to limit peak oil pressure,that the spring loaded piston in the pressure relief circuit controls, the flow rate, until the pressure drops below the oil pumps pressure relief spring resistance , when the spring forces the passage to close as the small piston on the spring closes the pressure relief passage acting as a valve, that controls and limits peak pressure.
the pumps secured to the rear main cap with a stud or bolt and its indexed with the twin pins,in the rear main cap, that fit the holes in the pump casting.
the pumps spun with a drive shaft that connects the distributor gear and cam gear interface
the by-pass circuit has no effect on oil pressure other than to control the peak pressure, that can be reached before the circuit opens and limits further increases, installing a stiffer spring only delays the circuit opening point until a higher pressure is reached and has zero effect on the oil pressure up to that point in the pressure curve. a common problem is guys failing to remove the spring & piston assembly prior to brazing the oil pump pick-up onto the pump casting as the heat can anneal the spring temper reducing its resistance, thus reducing the pumps peak pressure or failing to clean and oil and properly re-assemble the oil pumps by-pass circuit components which can result in the piston binding in its bore and not allowing the by-pass circuit to open and function at all.
in years past it was fairly common to use a small washer to shim the by-pass spring to add a few extra pounds of resistance before the circuit opened, if done correctly this worked but it was common for guys to screw it up and its not advisable to go that route, as stiffer springs designed for the job are cheap and easy to install.
I,d also point out that while oil pressures over 60 psi are certainly easily reached they provide little or no improvement in lubrication, you need to try to maintain a minimum of about 10-15 psi per 1000rpm and Ive generally found a 20-25 psi at hot idle and 60-65 psi at peak rpms to be ideal.
the oil pump pumps oil out this exit passage to the main cap

heres the matching rear main cap surface


below you can see the inlet and outlet for the pressure relief passage in the big block oil pump(remember big block pumps have the pick-up in the main pump body while sbc pick-ups are mounted into the pump cover plate)


look at the picture below, the restrictive stock O.E.M. pickup if placed to close to the oil pan floor becomes a HUGE restriction to oil flow rates

you should NEVER shim an oil pumps pressure relief spring as it may prevent the piston it holds from moving down its bore far enough to allow it to open the bay-pass passage, that allows the pressure on the high pressure side of the oil pump from bleeding off back into the intakes side of the oil pump

Many pressure relief springs have one end larger than the other end,the spring always mounts with the larger end facing away from the bypass piston, if installed reversed the piston can,t move far enough to completely open the bypass circuit passage and pressures skyrocket, under some conditions

one point I should mention is that if you manage to wipe out a lifter and cam lobe, much of the the metallic trash is ALWAYS sucked thru the oil pump gears and its frequently packed into the pressure relief ports significantly reducing oil pump efficiency, so at a minimum it will require dis-assembly and careful inspection and cleaning and, if run awhile before you detect the problem, usually replacement






theres a great deal more info in these threads & links
http://www.chevyhiperformance.com/techa ... index.html
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2376
http://www.livermoreperformance.com/gm_oil_acc.html
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=1192&p=2467#p2467
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=52
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2294&p=13460#p13460
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=2187
viewtopic.php?f=54&t=1800&p=5526&hilit=brazed#p5526
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=382&p=467&hilit=MAIN+CAPS%E2%80%A6#p467

















