dan olson also makes a verry good oil pan.

KE products are great. With that said I am currently using a KE pan it is good and will last a lifetime. If I do it again I would use a stef's pan and KE for most everything else.
Steve

The KE pan is the old Lightning aluminum ,,,right ????

I use that and very good product.

But heard only good things from steff aswell.

Richard - Give me a call. I can tell you who you can get a steffs pan from cheap ROLMAO

Well I would like to point out that all of the oil pan manufactures listed build an excellent product. What I believe separates some of us from the others is how we manufacture and the quantities we do it in. Stef's is a recognized custom pan manufacture for all kinds of motorsports and can build you a custom pan. As for our oil pans we specialize only in marine oil pans and the pans we build are and have been the #1 choice in the industry for years. These oil pans are true offshore marine oil pans in both 10qt and 14qt versions as well as true "Cat or Tunnel" style pans as well. Each pan uses a form rolled sump as well as a powder coated finish for corrosion resistance. Our pans are readily available through ourselves and our preferred dealers at price that custom pan manufactures just can't compete with. The reasoning is just shear volume we build more offshore marine oil pans than anyone. That volume allows us to reduce the cost to you the end user. But the best part just what you get when you buy a Hardin Marine Oil Pan. Besides the fact that our pan's clear a 4-5/8" stroke out of the box they include custom specific oil pump pick ups, windage trays, dipsticks, stainless mounting hardware, and billet pan rail support girdles thats right Included!!! I know of no other manufacture that provides such a complete package.

On another note we are also the Manufacture of the Cast Aluminum KE pan which is a descendant of the original cast aluminum lightning oil pan. They are not the same pan as the new pan has a few updates but is similar.

If you need any measurements or additional support please don't hesitate to call or PM us.

Sincerely,

Hardin Marine

http://www.hardin-marine.com/SearchR...oryID~223.aspx

Everything at Stef's is build to order. We supply several quality engine builders like Dean, Sterling, Zuel, MER, JC, and others but each pan is built to that particular engine combination.

Yes Richard we build cat pans for Gen 6 engines. Most of our offshore stuff is built out of steel but we do offer stainless and aluminum also. Leadtime right now is 4 to 6 weeks.

Chris,
Is the cycle time on a Steff's BBC marine pan ever less than 4-6 weeks? We used a pair of Steff's pans once in 2002. They were nice pieces but I couldn't live with the broken commitments on top of the long production cycle. Why doesn't Steff's keep a few pair of the best selling BBC marine SKU's on the shelf for the average list price paying customer? Here we are in a slow economy and Steff's "promise" is a 50% spread from 4-6 wks.
Does 4-6 wks mean you get might get them in 4 wks if nobody important needs a set? It seems like Steff's still can't commit to a ship date to an average customer.
Still pissed off.....

The cast KE pans look impressive. Also appear the same as the pans on the Hardin site as mentioned. Any downside to using a cast pan ? I only have 9 1/2 inches measured straight down from the outboard pan rail. How much clearance should I leave between the pan and hull ? Hardin- if your still on this thread how about some pics and dimensions of your cat pans if you have any available.

Ben,
The preverbal 2 weeks in this industry is bad and I understand what you are saying. I learned along time ago if I am told 2 weeks I tell the customer 4 weeks that way they have a choice if they want to wait or go someplace else, either way I have not created a problem for the customer.

We have done what you said with Rex Marine. Mike put in a substantial inventory of our most popular pans and has inventory on the shelf right now. Our leadtime over the last few months has been 2 weeks and we have met that, but what happens in this industry only a few build over the slow months of Oct-Dec. The rest start when they get spring fever and then the pipeline gets jammed with orders.

I call and talk to the shop foreman on any pan build and then I know what were doing pan wise per week and then can give the customer a good estimate on how long it will take.

Again sorry for your experience on the delays.

Well here is a perfect example of production parts compared to custom. It's difficult for a custom shop to maintain lead times due to the fact that each part is usually built to specific application and their work load fluctuates so drastically by season. If we built custom pans it would take a couple weeks as well but we don't. I'm not here to defend I guess just point out the obvious. For this reason we build the most popular pans for the most popular applications to fit 95% of the market. And then we inventory them for same day shipping. Call me crazy but the average boater wants his parts now.

As for the member looking for cast pan it has a 8-1/2 deep sump http://www.hardin-marine.com/detail~ID~1705.aspx

Sincerely,

Hardin Marine