Got some questions hoping someone have answers to. Want to do some next steps of oil system upgrades.

1. Want to get a oil pan baffle plate. judging by the pictures, the rb unit is quite a bit different from the mazdamotorsports one. does anyone know why they are different and which one is better/pros/cons?

2. what is the difference between the type I / type II oil pedestal? and which one would work better on my 82?

Thanks,

Alvin

 

dont stop there get an gsl se oil pump from atkins
get a used one for around 60ish

 

I have the RB one but i have not put it in yet so i cant help you there. Definatly get the bigger oil pump and the differeces in the OFP are one has the "beehive" which alot of people dont like but it is actually quite effecient up to around 500HP so it would be fine for most of us. It also uses coolant to cool it as well as cooling fins so you dont need to be moving to cool your oil. Other people get the smaller one with no beehive and run a FMOC(front mount oil cooler). Personal preferance really. Im keeping the beehive. just my .02

 

I believe the beehive is less efficient at cooling the oil and was a cost saving change made by the bean counters to shave a few bucks from the manufacturing costs. The FMOC on the other hand is cooled by the same air flowing past the radiator ( pulled by the fan at low rpm ) as the coolant in the radiator. The beehive piggy backs on the cooling capacity of the radiator and gets its primary cooling from the coolant which nows has to carry a higher heat load as it continues around cooling the engine. This is one reason an overheat condition is so critical to 1st gens. True the beehive does have some fins to help air cool it but its not getting much air flow at the back of the engine bay is it? In either case air has to be moving past the radiator(s) thats why there's a fan. It has nothing to do with moving or not. As to efficiency up to 500HP, I don't buy that either.

As to oil system up grades I would think increasing the pressure by modifying the rear oil pressure regulator ( its covered in the archives, I think its a wackyracer mod) and swap out the beehive for an FMOC for better cooling capacity. The baffle is good if your looking at road racing where slosh can hurt you, otherwise its no a big issue.

 

I think beehives work well up to about 250HP. I doubt they were merely a cost cutting measure as they appear to have cost at least as much as an air oil cooler, if not more so. Think about how each is contructed and that the beehive was introduced midway through the 1st gen's production run. When you mass produce something, it gets cheap. The air cooler had been around since forever. Why would Mazda change a good thing? Did the air cooler really work that well? Obviously yes, but there has got to be another answer. Lower emissions though higher oil temps maybe? Maybe.

 

I'm not sure they do. Read what Mazdatrix says about them "not recommended for modified engines" (http://www.mazdatrix.com/b6.htm) Not that they are the experts but the advice is usually pretty sound on their site. Also, Mazda went back to the FMOCs in the 84-85 1G and 2G cars. I'm thinking its because the beehive was a failure.

The only other reason that makes sense to me is its less susceptible to damage than the FMOC. I know my FMOC was cracked at some point. Previous owner either smacked it on a bump or something. Maybe they were seeing a lot of failures due to user errors. I still think its a cheaper part, its got less metal in it. Also, you can't find replacements anymore.