What is the deal with more and more engine builders not putting dipsticks on race motors? I had a motor built by a shop in Houston and I had to make them put a dipstick in it and now I have a BES motor and it has no dipstick. When I questioned the plugged dipstick I was told the oil should be changed frequently enough you don't need to check it? GO FIGURE

Alls been said! :P The reason for running a little less oil is to get the oil away from the crank. A good windage tray with a built in scraper will also assist in keeping oil away from the crank. With a deep pan with added capacity you can do this. I personally run 6 1/2 qts in a 8 qt Pro Stock Enginnering pan along with a Canton windage tray with scraper and a 1 1/2 quart capacity accumulator and low pressure switch. The trap doors, baffles and fins in the pan are for oil control to get the oil back to the sump and to keep it there during acceleration and de-celeration. An accumulator is always good insurance and may save your engine if something goes wrong by keeping things lubed for that extra time that it may take you to notice a problem. I would also install a low pressure switch on the ignition on any race motor for added protection. George

I run 4-4 1/2 qts in my car all the time and with a windage tray.

I have constant good oil pressure and have seen no ill affects.

Racing oil pans do not have provisions in them for dip-sticks. They most always have an over-fill plug at where the oil level should be though. If you have a racing engine and are racing it, you should be draining the oil at least after every race so the oil level should never get low if enough was installed in the first place.

Racing Blocks have no provision in them for a dip-stick either.

If you have a racing block with a racing oil pan and want to know the oil level for checking purposes you can add a dip-stick if the pan has a side kick-out by welding a tube for a dip-stick to be inserted in. Caution though dip-stick tubes usually will be a vacuum leak if using a vacuum pump system or can be an blown out in conditions of blow-by.

The previous is only an opinuion and may not be fact in all situations.

Ed