Switching from rear to front sump on a 302

I have a 302 out of a mustang for my V8 swap and I'm in the process of switching from a rear to a front sump pan due to the cross member location. The problem I'm having is I ordered the melling pickup and the oil pan and when I went to install the pan and the pickup is hitting the bottom of the pan. Does anyone know if the oil pump or the pickup lengths are different or are the pan depths different?
I've already had to switch the timing cover to one with a hole for the dipstick because the original dstick hole is at the back drivers side of the block and is inusable now.
If the new pan I just ordered has the same problem I'm either going to shorten the pickup tube 1 inch or adapt the oil pan accordingly.

I surely had to switch out parts on a 302 Ford Bronco engine for Vanish with parts from Old Skool Vic,,,,,,

Vic offered me an oil pan but the shipping would be the same as a new one here.

Well,,,,,If you buy any parts from Vic,,,,,,,,I will probably see him at EconoWest on April 18th,  and I plan on driving to  Chicago on May 9th,,,,,,,I can haul some stuff with me,,,,,,,

Thanks Donivan! I will definitely let you know before you leave. Vic setup my cross member and I bought the throttle cable and oil filter adapter from him too!

You let Vic know to give me parts on April 18th,,,,,,,,,at EconoWest 2015,,,,,,in Pasadena, California,,,,,in front of the RoseBowl,,,,,,,

Hey Cali

Got a dipstick on that pan? Or is it in the block?

Jim

No dipstick in new pan but it was in the block. Now it's in the new timing cover.
I put the new cover on this morning and tightened everything down with the balancer in place but the bottom edges of the timing cover are not flush with the pan mating surface. Is this normal?

It has to flat where the block and timing cover meet so the gasket can seal,,,,,,,so the cover is the problem,,,,,is it too high or low,,,,,,and by how much?

It's too high on one side by like .030 and .020 on the other side. I was wondering if i need to just undo everything and clean it up and screw a straight edge of some sort down to the oil pan mating surface and start over? I thought the balancer would line it all up.

you could loosen it up,,,,,,but I would say the crankshaft and balancer determines where the seal and timing cover need to be,,,,,,,and if things still aint flush,,,,,,break out the grinder,,,,,,there surely seems to be a lot of different balancers,,,,,,that would throw off your final alignment,,,,,

I don't think just loosening is going to work with the rtv I put on it. But i will try!

If you aint got that cover centered, you aint got that seal centered,,,,,and the seal will probably end up leaking,,,,,,,

Yeah thats what those 2 hollow dowels that were not in there are supposed to do.

Front timing cover needs to match your water pumps rotation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also,, there is a casting hole in them for where the dipstick goes in the timing cover. Its as simple as drilling it out and installing one there.
Regards to the timing cover not flush on the front that should have been a standard thing to check before you tightened the bolts down. Sure would be a waste of time on that pretty motor to have it leak there down the road because you wouldn't re do it??? LOL.... I would pull the dampner, take it apart and clean the sealer off,, replace the gasket if you have to and make sure its the same on both sides. The gasket is very thick on the pan in that area and with a good sealant it should seal even if not perfectly flat. I use the "one piece" oil pan gaskets,, pricey but not really in the long run....LOL
Old Skool...