Thread: 350 chev? RE: fwd-rwd convert.

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You're only going to be able to lose about 3 inches off the bottom of the pan or you'll have clearance problems with the oil pump. Your best bet is to go dry sump with an external oil pump. If you go that route, you'll only need something like 4 or 5 inches down from the oil pan rail. A dry sump block is going to cost you a few dollars, $2200 for a machined and ready to be assembled block. A dry sump aluminum block from GM is going to run you $4400. Milodon sells a dry sump pan for circle track racing with a depth of 5.5 inches. This is all probably out of your price range, I'm just letting you know your options.

For the distributor, if clearance is an issue, you should run a crank trigger. Because the trigger is mounted on the front of the crank, there is no trigger in the distributor and the cap can be made much shorter. You could also notch the firewall, cut a hole in it and weld in new steel to make a pocket that clears the distributor. I do not recommend you run a points type distributor or it will really limit your performace. Also, if you have clearance problems, it will be a pain to try to service those points every few thousand miles.