Hi all,
What should the bolted-up clearance be between the oil pump gears and the cover? Haynes talks about .0018" to .0058" between the gears and the cover, and with a .006" gasket (uncompressed) this gives a final clearance of .0002" to .0042".
That sound about right, do you reckon? .0002" seems mighty small to me.
Stan
End float - 1973 RV8 oil pump gears
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- ged
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Hi Stan,
I've found through trial & error If you check the height that the gears protrude from the pump (should be about .004"-.005") & use a .012" gasket & the cover faces are clean you'll get about 20 psi at idle with 20/50. I calculated for approx .004" of gasket compression. I once tried to reduce the end float somemore & even though I checked that the pump would still turn freely, after about 2 miles the car cut out. After inspection it appeared that the pump had nipped & broke teeth off the distributor drive & also the cam gear.
Also if you are using new pump gears make sure you stone off any burrs from machining.
Hope this answers your question.
Ged.
PS
I've just noticed you were asking about an earlier oil pump & all the pumps I have set up are the SD1 type.
I've found through trial & error If you check the height that the gears protrude from the pump (should be about .004"-.005") & use a .012" gasket & the cover faces are clean you'll get about 20 psi at idle with 20/50. I calculated for approx .004" of gasket compression. I once tried to reduce the end float somemore & even though I checked that the pump would still turn freely, after about 2 miles the car cut out. After inspection it appeared that the pump had nipped & broke teeth off the distributor drive & also the cam gear.

Hope this answers your question.
Ged.
PS
I've just noticed you were asking about an earlier oil pump & all the pumps I have set up are the SD1 type.
Thanks ged,
Yeah...4 to 5 thou end float sounds a bit more like it to me. I've fitted the taller gears upgrade kit and the they stand proud by about .004". The gasket in the kit's .006" and when I bolt up on this I can barely turn the gear shaft.
Thicker gasket then...or grind a few thou off the gears?
Yeah...4 to 5 thou end float sounds a bit more like it to me. I've fitted the taller gears upgrade kit and the they stand proud by about .004". The gasket in the kit's .006" and when I bolt up on this I can barely turn the gear shaft.
Thicker gasket then...or grind a few thou off the gears?
Nipped to the local LR dealer at lunch and got an OE gasket for the princely sum of 56p. Which mics up at 12 thou...twice that of the one in the upgrade kit!
So that clearance becomes 6 to 10 thou..or more likely 3 to 7 with the gasket compressed. Spacer plate licked up on the surface grinder, and the bolted up clearance now seems about 4 to 5 thou. Happy with that!
Stan
So that clearance becomes 6 to 10 thou..or more likely 3 to 7 with the gasket compressed. Spacer plate licked up on the surface grinder, and the bolted up clearance now seems about 4 to 5 thou. Happy with that!

Stan