L-88 & ZL/1 special windage thay

[Steve Antonucci]

Hi all !

I saw an item on eBay and I was hoping some of you could reply. The item is
reported to be a "special" L-88 & ZL/1 curved windage tray. Has anyone ever
heard or seen one of these before? Did GM make this? Could this possibly
have been an over the counter item to go with the over the counter higher
volume L-88 pan?

Here is the link to the auction ( completed ):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=130024440973&ih=003&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT

[Clem Z.]

these curved windage trays were discontinued

at the end of 1970. part# 3879640

[Joe L.]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

clem and Steve-----

I can find no information that this windage tray was ever used on a PRODUCTION engine. I would have to surmise that it was a SERVICE-only piece and/or a piece used for SERVICE engines.

According to GM, all 1965-68 Corvettes with big block, including L-88, used baffle GM #3873878. This is a "flat" windage tray which was the precursor to the GM #3967854 which is still sold today.

1969 L-88 and ZL-1 used the above windage tray (early) or the GM #3964275 (late). The 3964275 was similar in configuration to the 3967854 which replaced it.

The GM #3873878 was discontinued in October, 1969 and replaced by the GM #3967854.

The GM #3879640 (the windage tray in the eBay item) was discontinued and also replaced by the GM #3967854 in February, 1972.

[William C.]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

Part was carried in the old "Special Equipment" catalog, circa 1969-70

[Steve Antonucci]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

Bill,

Would you happen to have one of those catelogs lying around anywhere? I'd like to see what applications this was to be used for.

Steve

[Steve Antonucci]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

Joe,

Strange part about this ZL-1 windage tray story is that the ZL-1 Camaro's
actually didn't come with the windage tray because of oil pan clearance issues.
Or, at least, that is the popular tale.......

I heard from some ZL-1 owners who told me that they had to "modify" the oil pan
baffle area for the windage tray to fit. Others told me that the baffle had to
be removed to make the windage tray fit properly.

I don't know if the Tonowanda facility did this modification on some of the
ZL-1 Camaro's or not. Any ideas? Still, I'd like to know if the curved
windage tray referenced at the beginning of this thread was for Corvette only
due to the oil pan issues.

I have to look on eBay for one of those old GM performance catelogs........

Steve

[Joe L.]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

Steve-----

The big block Camaro oil pans did not use a windage tray, at all. Those pans, originally GM #3889384 (E1967), GM #3907137 (L67-E68), GM #3929257 (L-68-E69), GM #3985999 (L69-73) and 14091488 SERVICE only), were not designed for use with an external windage tray. I don't think that any windage tray that GM ever offered will fit this pan, including the 3879640. The Camaro pan, which also was used for Chevy II and Chevelle applications, was primarily designed to fit the chassis and "sacrificed" some of the oil baffling features used for the Corvette oil pan.

I don't know what the engine configuration was for 1969 Camaros with the COPO ZL-1 package. However, I would expect that these engines had to have been originally built with the Camaro oil pan or the pan was added before installation of the engine into the cars. If a Corvette oil pan was removed and the Camaro pan added, then the Corvette windage tray would have had to have been removed, too.

It would be possible to modify a Corvette windage tray to fit the Camaro pan. However, this would have required substantial modification that I doubt that GM would have performed. Plus, the Corvette windage tray was part of a SYSTEM which included the Corvette oil pan and internal baffling. Simply "hacking and bending" a Corvette windage tray to fit a Camaro pan would not create an "engineered system" and I doubt that GM would have done that. And, for a total of 69 COPO-only vehicles, they sure weren't going to engineer and have manufactured a special windage tray to work with the Camaro oil pan.

[Clem Z.]

i think the studs will not clear the camaro pan

as it is too shallow in the front part. i remember doing some BB camaro engines back in then and tried to put in a corvette windage tray and studs and i think i had to cut down the length of the tray and not use the front studs. NCRS,"now can't remember ****", has set in as that was a long time ago

[Joe L.]

Re: i think the studs will not clear the camaro pa

clem-----

What you describe is exactly what I would expect would have to be done to make the Corvette windage tray fit in the Camaro oil pan. I doubt that GM would have done this, though, for a PRODUCTION situation, COPO or not.

[Joe L.]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

Steve-----

I don't see how the 3879840 windage tray would have fit the Camaro pan. In fact, I'm not 100% sure that it would hjave fit an unmodified Corvette pan. It looks to be a little too long to me. It might have been designed to be used with a modified Corvette oil pan with a deeper sump that was available in SERVICE only.

[Michael H.]

Re: L-88 & ZL/1 special windage thay

steve,

The 3879640 tray/baffle was designed specifically for use with the 3879633 "deep sump" 7 qt capacity big block oil pan. It was never used on any production vehicle and only available over the parts counter. Both the pan and baffle were designed for drag racing.

[William C.]

Re: these curved windage trays were discontinued

Racing Applications only, recommended for any bigblock race application that did not use a dry sump. Not an OEM part for any application.