Best oil pump

[tim wood]

Over winter I plan to drop the sump to change a leaking crank oil seal. Because I’m an advanced sufferer of shipwrights disease I will take the opportunity to check and probably change the shells, thrust bearings and oil pump.
It seems that several options are around for 4.2 oil pumps at various prices from various vendors. Do any opinions exist as to the better choices. Some seem to made by a company called County and for some reason I’m doubtful of those.

All thoughts welcome.

Tim

[Tom W]

Which crank seal are you changing? I’m not sure you can change the rear crank oil seal with the engine in the car. The front you can do. For the rear, if you go for the original rope seal, the crank needs removing to size the seal. If you go for a lip seal, the crank needs to be machined.

[tim wood]

Should have said, it’s the front seal. This has quite a copious leak. The rear rope seal has the often encountered drip but not so much to worry about.

[Tom W]

I did that job when I first got my car. Later front covers are machined to allow the seal to be removed with the crank in situ. Earlier front covers need to be removed to allow removal of the seal.

[chrisfell]

I recall two options on the oil pump, standard and high capacity, both used to be available from SNGB. When my oil pump was toasted after it swallowed and spat out a big end split pin (ask me how that happened), I replaced it with the high capacity version, intending at the time to fit an oil cooler. The oil cooler was never fitted. Oil pressure is good on what is a very tired engine which was badly rebuilt when I bought the car. To keep the oil pressure up I ‘enhanced’ the bypass spring by fitting a washer at the blind end to squash it a bit, raising the pressure at which it released oil back into the sump (I’d guess that is now a little over 50psi).