<VV> Low Oil Pressure

[Smitty]

	Smitty Says;  I can agree that the idiot light switch is not the
best thing in a race engine.  It really is not the destruction indicator
that a lot of people think it is in a street car.  (my opinion).  I have had
two instances when it saved my engine over the years.  One was when a oil
pressure hard line for a pressure gage failed and dumped the oil.  In the
other a filter gasket blew out and dumped the oil.  In the case of the
filter gasket I was towing my camper and in the middle of a rather lengthy
highway level bridge.  The light came on and I feather footed it is best I
could till I could get off and to the side.   (Maybe two or three blocks).
Investigation of the bearings after I got home showed no damage.  A couple
of things you can do to get the best protection from a light is to use a
higher pressure switch as Seth said.  There is one made for MoPar's that
snaps at 15 psi.  Much better than a 20 pounder because you won't get so
many nuisance flashes like when you drop the clutch in hot weather.
Unfortunately I don't have a part number for that.   It is a good idea to
check your snap switch for two failure modes.  One is simply to use a small
hand pump and a gage to see when the circuit actually closes.  I think you
will find them all over the place pressure wise.  The other is to see how
long it takes for the switch to close when pressure is removed.  That should
be done when the engine is hot, because when the switches are cold it may
take 10 seconds or so for one to show loss of pressure.  Get the engine well
warmed up.  Shut the engine off and the instant it stops turning, turn the
key back on.  The length of time between key on and light coming on is how
long you will be out of pressure without knowing it.
I don't know how others can monitor gages when they are racing.  It takes
all my concentration just to be where I want to be.  So I don't have a gage
in my racer.  I have a red light about 1 1/2" diameter.  To me, when it
flashes, it says, get off the track.