Road Racing - Now Available - New & Improved F-Body Trap-Door Oil Pan Baffle

We recently released a new and improved version of our trap-door oil pan baffle for the LS1 F-Body pan. The new baffle features a third trap-door which traps oil during acceleration, so the pickup is now completely enclosed by trap-doors.

Our baffle offers track-proven protection against oil starvation for road racing, drag racing, drifting, off-roading and even rock-crawling.

Our baffle is a a 100% bolt-on replacement for the stock steel baffle and weights 1.3lbs less.

Price is $199.99 + shipping (approx $8.50) - less expensive and more effective than most aftermarket pans!

What our customers say:

Thanks Michael,

You guys have great customer service. The baffle arrived on-time and I found it to be well designed, made and it fit perfect. I spun my #6 rod bearing last time at Thunderhill even with a 3-qt accusump, so I was concerned about running the new motor at Laguna last Monday. No need to worry, I never saw the oil pressure drop below 50 and the motor ran strong all day. I am running 12" wide slicks on a race-prepped RX7, so cornering forces are up there. Much cheaper than a dry sump.

I highly recommend this product. It is a clear improvement over the factory stamped steel baffle.

I am currently in the process of installing an LSx in my daily driver ’97 BMW M3 which will also see some limited Autocross duty. I ordered the Improved Racings updated trap door baffle for the F-body oil pan, upon receiving it, felt it was worthy of quick review.

I was not paid, sponsored, or offered any discount to write this!

Instruction sheet is professional, thorough and well detailed.
Manufacturing/production quality is first rate!
Fit and finish in the F-body oil pan is amazing!
The baffle is tight to the pan floor and tight to the forward wall of the pan! It is apparent the designer spent a good deal of time to make this happen.
In looking over this baffle from a design standpoint, it is also quite clear this was not just drawn up willy-nilly and sent to production, it was methodically engineered, every part, panel, nook and cranny has a job regarding oil control to and around the pick up tube!

For those wanting to build their own similar design, my advice is don’t waste your time. For the money, you will be hard pressed to even come close to this baffle.

My only addition to this is don’t forget to port the oil passages above the oil filter! Careful not to go too far in porting and bust through to an adjacent cavity. Just need to open the restriction at the intersections.

Thank you to the crew at Improved Racing.

Paul Ruschman
Rusch Motorsports LLC

Photos:

http://www.improvedracing.com/images/F-BodyTDBaffle_lrg.jpg

http://www.improvedracing.com/images/F-BodyTDBaffle_4_lrg.jpg

http://www.improvedracing.com/images/F-BodyTDBaffle_6_lrg.jpg

More photos and information available on our website at www.improvedracing.com (http://www.improvedracing.com)

how much of an advantage is this over your older design? which i already have.....

how much of an advantage is this over your older design? which i already have.....

The older design was geared more towards road racing, while the new design takes drag racing into consideration as well. The additional trap door helps keep oil around the pickup during heavy acceleration, which is important for drag racing but not a big deal for most road racers.

The other changes we made will improve performance in road racing conditions slightly, but nothing dramatic.

this will go in my stock oil pan?

it would be cool if you could give a video to show this. even if it is a computer done video.

this will go in my stock oil pan?

Yes, it bolts right into the stock pan, in place of the stock steel baffle. It converts your stock pan into a trap-door racing pan. No need for an aftermarket pan.

it would be cool if you could give a video to show this. even if it is a computer done video.

You mean a video showing how it fits in the pan? We could do that.

so no i mean how it works. lol. i am usually preety good at imaging stuff and i am lost on this

so no i mean how it works. lol. i am usually preety good at imaging stuff and i am lost on this

The pickup tube sits in the center of that box. The trap doors only open inwards, so oil can enter that box, but cannot leave. So under heavy G-loads, the oil is kept inside the box, near the pickup, instead of accumulating on the side of the pan.

The vertical guides welded to the top of the baffle catch windage oil that is being whirled around and guide it into the pickup box.

The slots cut on top of the baffle help improve drain-back into the sump, so that oil doesn't just accumulate on top of the baffle.

The small bent piece welded to the bottom of the top plate covers up a hole that is cast in the pan for the oil level sensor. Basically it just ensures that all of the oil flows into the sump box under braking, instead of around it.

The open side of the box might confuse some people. This portion of the baffle sits up against the front of the pan.

Here are some photos that might help you understand how it works. I will try to make a video explaining it or something too.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/BRAAPZ/BMW/Edna/LSx%20build%20up/tight2.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/BRAAPZ/BMW/Edna/LSx%20build%20up/tight1.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b81/BRAAPZ/BMW/Edna/LSx%20build%20up/tight4.jpg

Does that help at all?

Might be a dumb question...but why is the hole for the rear trap door smaller than the holes for the side trap doors? What benefit does that add? Wouldn't you want them the same size? Seems like it would limit the amount that comes in from the rear of the pan.

Might be a dumb question...but why is the hole for the rear trap door smaller than the holes for the side trap doors? What benefit does that add? Wouldn't you want them the same size? Seems like it would limit the amount that comes in from the rear of the pan.


what holes are talking about? the small circular holes? bc those are where it bolts down :o

is this redesigned from the new one that came out earlier this year/end of last year or same one?

Might be a dumb question...but why is the hole for the rear trap door smaller than the holes for the side trap doors? What benefit does that add? Wouldn't you want them the same size? Seems like it would limit the amount that comes in from the rear of the pan.

That hole is narrower because of the design of the pan:

http://image.gmhightechperformance.com/f/9005608/0609htp_45_z+stroker_engine_build+sludge_buildup.j pg

See the V-shaped walls cast into the pan? Those walls funnel oil into that one hole under braking. So the trap door hole can only be as wide as that opening in the center. Also, the size is large enough; if you look at a Corvette batwing pan, there are walls around the pickup and all of the openings are about that size, even a little smaller.

is this redesigned from the new one that came out earlier this year/end of last year or same one?

This is a new model that was released in September. The old model only had two trap doors, this one as three, as well as some other minor improvements and revisions.

That hole is narrower because of the design of the pan:

See the V-shaped walls cast into the pan? Those walls funnel oil into that one hole under braking. So the trap door hole can only be as wide as that opening in the center. Also, the size is large enough; if you look at a Corvette batwing pan, there are walls around the pickup and all of the openings are about that size, even a little smaller.

Ah, that makes sense, never seen the inside of the pan. Thanks.

this is a dumb question im sure but since this is for road racing, drag racing, drifting, and off-roading, how would it fair for a Daily driver? and whats this about porting the oil passages above the oil filter?

this is a dumb question im sure but since this is for road racing, drag racing, drifting, and off-roading, how would it fair for a Daily driver? and whats this about porting the oil passages above the oil filter?

There are no issues with using it in a daily driver. In fact, if for any reason your oil level becomes low, it will help a little in preventing oil starvation on the street.

Porting the oil passages above the filter is something a few people have recommended to supposedly improve oil flow, however I'm not aware of any data indicating that this works or is beneficial (or harmful) to the engine. Unless I saw some kind of concrete data proving that it's beneficial, I would not mess with it, because it was probably designed that way by GM for a reason. So I don't recommend doing it.

Man, that looks like a great product. I hope you sell a lot of them; I'll bet getting one as soon as I find one more reason to jack up the motor and drop the k-member (again :bang:), lol.

i think I want one of these but im not sure why...lol

I have had no oiling issues with my stock sump/pan/pump during road racing situations. Never saw an oil pressure drop.

I still got one! This is a great price for security. Also, it's a great addition or alternative for a pressurized reserve system. I was rebuilding the engine, and I figured that >$200 was a small price to pay to possibly save a $10k engine.