Canton (15-780) 4.6L 3V Oil Pan

Is anyone using this oil pan?

If so, are you using the OEM windage tray & pan gasket? Canton states this pan will work with the OEM pickup tube.

I have the one that is close to that, 15-784, but I have the livernois crank scraper in mine. Also, when Tillman built my engine and put the scraper on they had to tweak my pickup tube for clearance for the additional stroke. I added that oil pan at a later date and it worked with my pickup tube as it was in the stock pan.

My car takes 8qts of oil using that pan but I'm sure with the scraper and extra gasket that must be used with the scraper that has something to do with the additional capacity.

Yes the 15-780 & 15-784 Canton oil pans are very similar.

I'm sure the reason your pickup tube had to be tweaked is because of the longer stroke - 298/3.750" Vs 302/3.800".

I am still using the OEM windage tray and oil pickup tube as I have a 298 and not a 302.

I see you are using Kooks headers. Any interference issues? I also have Kooks.

No clearance problems at all...the only issue I have run into and just recently was installing my 4R70W....with that pan, it sits very close to the bell housing & separator plate so I had to tighten my torque converter bolts through the access hole on the driver's side of the block.

When I pull the trans back out on Sunday to send my converter in to correct the stall I'm going to cut an access hole in the bottom of the bell housing so I can tighten the converter bolts easier.

I had to cut a hair away on the oil pan to get my pick up to fit. Other then thag I'm using stock everything. I think I used aboht 7 1/2qts to fill up mine.

08nastygt said:

I had to cut a hair away on the oil pan to get my pick up to fit. Other then thag I'm using stock everything.

Click to expand...

Can you elaborate?

If I were to venture a guess, I suspect it's clearancing the opening that the pickup goes through. Just a guess though.

^Dysan is right no matter what I did it wouldn't go. So we just trimmed alittle of on the right side and all was good. I could have been doing it wrong but we spent about 30min trying to make it work.

so fast forward 2 weeks...

I placed a call to Canton and asked them to take some measurements of the 15-780 pan. I was concerned about the oil temp sensor contacting the automatic transmission cooler lines. With the information they provided I made this template

Then test fit the template to the vehicle - sorry for the crappy picture. From the template, I also determined the OEM pan is approx. .200" deeper than the Canton pan.

As you can see the relocation of the oil temp sensor is a non issue

so after discussing my specific application (street/strip) with Canton I ordered the Canton 15-780 pan - not the 15-784 which has the additional baffles, as that pan is intended for road racing applications. All parts (oil pan, gasket, sealant, oil temp sensor, Valvoline VR1 10W-30 oil & filter) have arrived

You'll notice a McMaster-Carr package. The Canton pan has a 1/2" NPT bung welded in the RH side of the pan to accommodate the oil temp sensor. Unfortunately the sensor my specific VIN# uses (3F1Z-12A648-A / DY-1144) is 3/8" NPT. Rather than use a hex pipe bushing, I ordered a 4429K524 1/2" x 3/8" NPT face bushing. This style of bushing will reduce the overall assembled length of the sensor and bushing when installed in the pan

Here's a couple of pictures of the pan


Pan includes a 1/2"-20 magnetic drain plug.

Once I have the OEM pan removed I will compare the excat depth of the OEM pan to the depth of the Canton pan. I want to make sure the oil pump pickup tube doesn't fit too closely to the bottom of the pan. Canton recommends 5/16" - 3/8" up to .50" clearance.

The oil capacity with this new pan, including the OEM oil filter, should be about 7.5 qts which equates to a 25% increase in oil capacity over the OEM pan.

Word of advise....measure the copper washer that's between the drain plug and the pan so you can have a few extra on hand....mine has started to drip so I plan on measureing & replacing it when I do my next oil change.

dysan said:

Word of advise....measure the copper washer that's between the drain plug and the pan so you can have a few extra on hand....mine has started to drip so I plan on measuring & replacing it when I do my next oil change.

Click to expand...

Now that's funny!! Just last night I was thinking "You know, I need to order some spare copper washers for that drain plug". Online Canton shows both the 22-400 magnetic plug with the washer and the 22-420 washers separately

I called Canton today and asked them to provide me with the ID, OD and thickness of the copper washers so I can obtain them locally. Washer dimensions are as follows:

ID of .50" (12.7 mm)
OD of .750" (19.05 mm)
Thickness of .062" (1.575 mm).

Looking at Summit's website, they also offer the Canton 22-420 copper washers

That is funny .

Mine lasted 8-10 oil changes but now it has a constant oil drip cling-on. Never really drips but I guess it just blows off while I'm driving the car.

Todd, with the BMR K-Member (OEM motor mount height) do you know if you can Re and Re the oil pan without raising the motor if you unbolt the steering rack and move it forward?

Scott said:

Todd, with the BMR K-Member (OEM motor mount height) do you know if you can Re and Re the oil pan without raising the motor if you unbolt the steering rack and move it forward?

Click to expand...

That's the plan...

Guess I'll know for sure this weekend.

tmcolegr said:

That's the plan...

Guess I'll know for sure this weekend.

Click to expand...

Good luck, please keep us posted and remember to enjoy Xmas!

...while not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse, big fat Santa crept out of the house.

Time to remove the oil pan. Now as you've already seen I have a BMR K-Member. However, it has 1/2" lowered mounts as I'm running a Saleen S/C. I was concerned if there would still be enough clearance to remove the oil pan with this K-Member. So first order of business was to unbolt the steering shaft and the (2) rack mounting bolts.

No need to completely remove the steering rack, just lower and secure to the K-Member

wrapped the K-Member in an oil absorbent diaper - no need to scratch the K-Member

Now for the moment of truth, I'm pleased to report the OEM oil pan can be removed even with the lowered mounts


Since the oil will be replaced, this is a good time to remove and cut open the oil filter, just to check the health of the engine. Filter cutter makes this a breeze.

Everything looks excellent



not sure if Santa will be able to slip out undetected into the garage later today or not. If successful, I'll post updates. Next on the agenda is to compare oil pickup tube to oil pan clearance on both the OEM pan and the Canton pan.

So after measuring, remeasuring and measuring again, I have determined some very important dimensions when using this pan.

Those of you that have installed this pan or the 15-784 pan may want to pay close attention to this post.

• This pan is intended to be used in combination with Canton's screen windage tray. Their windage tray mounts between the pan and block unlike the OEM windage tray that mounts to the main caps. Without using their windage tray, the oil pump pickup tube hits the oil pan sump by about 3mm and would starve the engine for oil. This will require the oil pump pickup tube to be modified.
• Next issue is the engine oil dipstick. The opening in the slosh baffle isn't large enough and the slosh baffle hits the dipstick. Since the dipstick is flexible, when the pan is installed, the slosh baffle just pushes the dipstick up. The end result is the engine oil is overfilled. So after some more measuring, I modified the slosh baffle to clear the dipstick. Now the dipstick no longer hits the slosh baffle. Here's some pictures.

Unmodified slosh baffle

Modified slosh baffle

So after modifying the threaded oil pump pickup tube support spacer (machined .180" off the spacer and installed a shorter M8x1.25x16mm grade 8 bolt and hardened M8 flat washer with blue thread lock to retain the bolt) and the pickup tube suction bell (removed the suction bell, shortened the tube .350" and reinstalled the suction bell), I now have .340" clearance between the suction bell and the bottom of the oil pan.

All "should" be good to go - right?? Not yet. I tried to install the oil pan with the modified pickup tube installed and the suction bell hits the slosh baffle when you try to tip the back of the oil pan up into position. This must be what 08nastygt was referring to in his earlier post. The K-Member to oil pan clearance is not the issue. The problem is the pan is intended to be installed without the transmission in place. This would not be an issue if the transmission wasn't in place as the pan could be slid from the rear toward the front of the engine as it is put into place.

I can only assume Canton did not validate this installation with the engine and transmission in the chassis, if it was validated at all.

Not to be deterred, I took more measurements, remeasured and measured again. I have modified the slosh baffle again to allow the pan to be put into place with the transmission in the chassis. After the modification was made, the edges of the slosh baffle were all carefully deburred and the pan was thoroughly cleaned. Here's some pictures of the modifications required to the slosh baffle:

unmodified slosh baffle

slosh baffle modification #1 required to clear the dipstick

slosh baffle modification #2 required to clear the suction bell during oil pan installation with the transmission in place

I should be test fitting this modified oil pan this afternoon. Hopefully all will be good to go. Will post the results.

By now this oil pan installation has become a battle of wills. I'm not frustrated yet, but getting very close and that is when stupid mistakes happen. Fortunately I have this whole week off of work, so when frustration sets in, I can walk away and come back with a clear head.

For those of you considering this Canton 15-780 oil pan installation, if you read this thread and modify the pan as previously stated this installation will be trouble free.

PS: I made a template of the modified slosh baffle so if I have to do this on another vehicle I won't have to reinvent the wheel.

looks good

Nice yours looks a lot cleaner then when I cut mine lol we jusr started cutting till it fit. We were so fed up with it though.