I am having to rebuild my little Chevrolet power plant over the winter. It has a stock Melling oil pump and am considering a new pump. Does anyone have any experience with the Melling shark tooth or are there any other's that you like? Thank You

Love it and won't run anything else now. I have one of the aluminum versions but a friend is using the iron one. I can tell you that it pumps up super fast and when I am priming by hand I have was surprised at how smooth it is and zero pulsing feel like a standard gear pump. I record oil pressure and it has been great.

I know they offer a standard and 25% over output also. The 25% is what I have only because I got a killer deal on it. The stock volume would be enough. I do run the higher pressure spring that comes with it because I have pretty large clearances. In the aluminum version they offer 8" or 8 1/4" lengths.

I have the Melling 10552 ST which is 10% more volume in a Little M. Honestly, I think it’d be better with the standard volume model as posted in Darts instructions. In the pic the solid blue line is 10w40 and the dash is 10w30. This engine has over 1000 runs on it when both weights were used recently.

mark it appears your pressure is falling off. mine stays way flatter at the end,it makes me think you need another quart or two

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it appears your pressure is falling off. mine stays way flatter at the end,it makes me think you need another quart or two

I think it could be a pump problem. This has a Stefs 1020 pan (used same since 2007) that is 5 qt capacity plus 1 qt for filter. I’ve had as much as 6 -1/2 qts with same results. Although the pressure is erratic (it’s been this way since I installed Holley EFI 5 yrs ago and was able to monitor) it never drops below 58 psi during the run.

What did eliminate the loss of oil pressure I experienced in the 1/4 mile shut down prior to 2015 was this Kevko 1004-10555 pickup that I’ve used now since 2015 with success.

when mine looked like that i had a drain back issue.sorry for the high jack on thread

i wish i could post a pick but im 88 on flash and 87 near 1/4

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Originally posted by rusty:
when mine looked like that i had a drain back issue.

I agree that what I have is Not normal. I expected it to be flat line. I recently purchased a new oil pressure sensor (150#) and want to install to verify what I’ve seen.

Did you have any other symptoms like excessive oil drawn from the vac pump?

I have 94 lbs. at flash & 96 lbs. at the end of the 1/4 mile with 20w50 synthetic. Hamburger pan 6qt & 1qt for the filter. The pump is a Melling cast but not a shark tooth that I know of.

2BKING

this is over two or three combos in last 2 years, all same except one with drain back slash oiling issues. On the aluminum block after 1/2 season more oil in tank from pump.steel block better

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Originally posted by B KING:I have 94 lbs. at flash & 96 lbs. at the end of the 1/4 mile with 20w50 synthetic. Hamburger pan 6qt & 1qt for the filter. The pump is a Melling cast but not a shark tooth that I know of.

I assume this is a high volume and high pressure model. What brand block is this on?

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Originally posted by markemark:

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Originally posted by B KING:I have 94 lbs. at flash & 96 lbs. at the end of the 1/4 mile with 20w50 synthetic. Hamburger pan 6qt & 1qt for the filter. The pump is a Melling cast but not a shark tooth that I know of.

I assume this is a high volume and high pressure model. What brand block is this on?

Unsure of the pump, I would have to find the builder receipt/sheet. This is a Bill Mitchell Motown II block.

2BKING

Here are the first 2 time trials of my last points race. I didn't get much heat in the first run and the second you can see it runs from the pump slightly at the hit then levels out. Mine never drops like Marks.

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Originally posted by B KING:

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Originally posted by markemark:

quote:

Originally posted by B KING:I have 94 lbs. at flash & 96 lbs. at the end of the 1/4 mile with 20w50 synthetic. Hamburger pan 6qt & 1qt for the filter. The pump is a Melling cast but not a shark tooth that I know of.

I assume this is a high volume and high pressure model. What brand block is this on?

Unsure of the pump, I would have to find the builder receipt/sheet. This is a Bill Mitchell Motown II block.

2BKING

I've been considering going to a 10w40 to lower the pressure a little, don't think I would use a 10w30.

2BKING

quote:

Originally posted by rusty:
when mine looked like that i had a drain back issue.sorry for the high jack on thread

Exactly what I’ve found, I’ve spent more time controlling oil back to the sump than to the parts.

I have a cast ST pump, I like it.

What I don’t understand is the oil pressure rises to 89 psi for 10w30 or 100 psi for 10w40 during the converter flash period and then drops into the mid-60s and maintains this with an 8-10 psi fluctuation.

When doing a burnout, the oil pressure is always 90+ @ 6500 - 7000.

If this pump (Melling 10552 ST) had a 60 psi pressure relief spring standard, would this oil pressure graph below not be correct?? Pressure never drops below 60 psi. How does this work??

This message has been edited. Last edited by: markemark,

lol may be but how did it get to 90 with a 60 spring

mine looks more like curtis but i need to be quiet since im not small block

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lol may be but how did it get to 90 with a 60 spring

Lol…Exactly! When I first put this engine in and had mechanical oil pressure gauge and no DA it’d bury the needle on the 100 psi gauge in the BO with 20w50 from the builder. I called the builder and they said the pump was installed as is and the two included springs (+10 / -10) were not used. Switched to 10w30 and readings are close to where I just posted.

If this has the installed 60 psi spring how does it get over 90 psi. I think there’s something not right with the pump, but I’m not knowledgeable about this, or how it works so I’m asking.

This has Brodix DS heads.