Oil Pressure Sender Issue On Roller 351

[SadbutTrue]

I'm actually a classic owner but the engine is a roller 351/408 stroker, so i figured I'd ask here. I've been having a pretty annoying issue with my oil pressure sender/adaptors.

I transitioned from an older style 351w (early 70s), and tried to re-use my old oil pressure setup. Though I'm not sure the exact names on all the extenstions/adaptors, the setup went roughly:

Block - > 3" long copper piece .) short (maybe half an inch) threaded adaptor - > a hexagonal piece another few inches long which accepted the oil pressure sender.

A few months ago i pulled over because my car was smoking, long story short, the copper piece had started to fail. I replaced it (and was feeling pretty proud of myself), but about a month later the replacement piece fails again. In both cases, the copper piece broke off in the engine. I was able to get it out with considerable struggle the first time, now its a shop and they want to charge me a few hundred to do it.

The entire setup above seems excessively complicated, and if i'm going to have them re-do it... if at all possible, I'd like to use some stock 80s/90s roller 351 part number that i can get off the shelf and that would fit... ideally using 0-1 adaptors of any type. And I really don't want another copper adaptor that fails in the engine.

Questions:
1) Is there a stock oil pressure sender that attaches directly to the block that would fit?
2) What year/model oil pressures might work? The dash cluster is a stock 1966, so it has to work with that.
3) Any other ideas?
4) Please help me avoid any more embarassing and smoky/leaky breakdowns lol, thanks

If it matters, the engine has a serpentine setup off of an 89 bronco. You would think that an 89 bronco setup would work, assuming the sender would be compatible with my wiring/gauges/etc.

 

[liljoe07]

If it is the same size as the 5.0's, you could use this.
Mustang Oil Pressure Sending Unit Extension (79-89) 5.0

Copper will get brittle with heat, and the vibrations from the engine and driving dont help much either.

 

[jrichker]

Never use copper tubing for a gauge line. The engine vibration will cause the copper tubing to work harden and then fail, but of course you already found that out.

Ordinary low pressure hydraulic hose can be used in place of the Stainless Steel braided hose, the Stainless Steel braided hose just looks nice. I got mine for $4 at a place that sells industrial and military surplus parts of all kinds. The Stainless Steel braided hose goes for about $4+ a foot and the fittings are probably about $6-$10 each. You can make your own and save some $$$, the shops may have a setup or labor charge to fabricate the hose assembly.

1.) For some help fabricating your own stainless steel hose assemblies, see
www.TurbineFun.com

2.) For stainless steel braided hose and fittings for automotive use:
See http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=stainless steel hose&dds=1

or http://www.summitracing.com/search/?keyword=stainless steel hose&dds=1

or stainless steel hose - JEGS High Performance

or http://www.eaton.com/Eaton/Product...rformanceProducts/FittingsProducts/index.htm for more information on High performance automotive hose products

Be sure to use a gauge restrictor fitting in the pressure line going to the gauge. The restrictor will prevent all of the engine's oil supply from ending up on the pavement before you can stop it if the gauge line fails. I had a gauge line rupture, and the restrictor fitting saved my engine from serious damage.