Need help on Turbocharging a 318

7 deuce:

You really want to use the front cover. The return must be above the liquid level in the pan, or it will back up the drain & push oil in to the turbine as said above.

While it was only conjecture, we always felt the action of the timing chain helped to break up any oil foam. Never had the time or funding to put a window in a front cover to prove it.

One thing that we did prove repeatedly is that the aluminum front cover is a good oil cooler. Mopar never discussed this, but on B-O-P engines it is part of the engineering. The front cover is cooled with the coldest water in the system, straight from the "cold" side of the radiator. It has a lot of surface area, and is not very thick.

Splashing oil over the back side of that cover cools it down (or warms it to water temp) and there is a lot of area inside that cover.

B.