Can somebody explain why my 302 has a itty bitty front sump with a drain plug and another real sump in the back? I know the oil pump is in the front, but what does that first sump really do except come really close to the crossmemenber in my 52 F-1?

 

I've assumed the front sump is there because of the oil pump itself. If you take your oil pan off and look at it closely, the actual housing of the oil pump itself (not counting the pickup) hangs down too far to allow a smooth downward slope toward the rear sump like you would see with a traditional true rear sump oil pan. Other than that, the front sump doesn't seem to have a function. It's just there because of clearance issues (and to drive those of us with a MII setup crazy and make us really enjoy removing 2 oil plugs with each oil change ).

EDIT: AND the "saddle" between the two sumps becomes necessary to clear the front suspension in late model Mustangs, etc.

 

The F150 might be a 351w pan...I'm not sure if that is identical to the 302 pan. For the record, I just went through an oil pump change, so the pickup is $20, and as I recall, the dipstick kits were probably $25. I'm guessing that the Lokar flexible dipstick is probably close to $50. So if this kit inlcudes a flexible dipstick, it's be a good deal. The pan gasket was also expensive for the one piece setup.

Dan