Want your high performance engine to not only last you for several decades and tens – or perhaps hundreds – of thousands of miles, but perform at its peak potential during that time? If so, then proper oiling is absolutely crucial, and we’re not talking just ensuring you change and check your oil consistently, but that you provide your engine the best internal oiling functionality you can afford. This is a fact whether you’re dealing with the most bone stock of stock engines or a modified piece pushing quadruple digits on the dyno sheets.

It’s for this reason that Canton Racing Products has developed their line of aftermarket oil pans for the Ford-engineered 5.0L Coyote engine; because you simply can’t do too much to protect your high-powered investment.

Canton has engineered these new oil pans to provide not only an added degree of oiling function, but much effort has been targeted at the form side of things, and the result is three top-of-the-line oil pans to fit virtually any application for which you can drop a 5.0L Coyote powerplant into.

Canton's 5.0L oil pan lineup: (From L to R) the rear sump kit, OEM replacement, and front sump kit.

The first of these three pans, which only recently passed through the conceptual and engineering phase and green-lighted for production, are a direct OEM replacement for the 2011 and later Ford Mustangs with the 5.0L engine. The other two, which we’ll speak more on below, are “kit” pans featuring either front or rear sump layouts for race cars, street rods, and one-off engine swaps into other vehicles. so regardless of what you intend to build or drop these newfangled engines into, you’re all but assured these pans from Canton will do the trick.

Canton Racing Products

Based in North Branford, Conn., Canton Racing Products has been building oil pans and related products for racing and high performance applications since 1981. Canton is recognized as one of the premier manufacturers of oil pans, with a focus on delivering the power and quality that enthusiasts and racers demand.

Built entirely in the United States, Canton’s oil pans are tig-welded to ensure even heat and penetration throughout the welding process, creating quality welds less prone to cracks and leaks. In the design and prototyping phase, every pan is fitted to the specific block it was designed for and run through rigorous leak testing procedures.

With some background on how they’re made, let’s take a look at the finished product.

5.0L “Kit” Pans

The first of the 5.0L Coyote pans that we’ll feature – which is actually two very similar pans – are both currently available from Canton Racing Products and authorized dealers. These of course are the “kit” pans, which come in both a front and rear sump configuration to fit the cross member, shift linkages, exhaust manifolds, and other components on the front of whatever vehicle you’re opting to put a Coyote motor in.

Engine swaps are a common thing, and with the availability of the 5.0L engine in crate form directly from Ford, no doubt we’ll see more and more of them turn up under the hood of street rods, race cars, and other Ford bodies or even other make vehicles entirely. For that, such a choice of oil pans to fit within the chassis constraints is much-needed.

Canton has designed these “kit” pans for vehicles where ground clearance is limited, and for that reason, a front sump (as Ford engines traditionally are) and rear sumps are needed to ensure clearance in any type of vehicle. These pans are built with heavy gauge steel and, as mentioned above, are tig-welded for leak-free performance. They measure 5 in. deep, 11.5 in. wide, and 10.5 in. long with a seven quart system capacity.

Inside, you’ll find a diamond-shaped road race baffle assembly with four trap doors, a removable windage/anti-slosh baffle, a 1/2 in. NPT temperature bung, and a 20mm fitting installed to accommodate the factory low oil warning sender. In addition, they sport provisions for Canton’s pan-mounted dipstick and a magnetic drain plug.

These two pans are essentially identical in every way other than the location of the sump.

“The goal was to give a similar system capacity to a stock pan, but be able to make it a lot shallower for people with clearance issues; more specifically in kit cars,” says Canton’s Jeff Behuniak. “These cars generally sit lower, so pan clearance is a huge issue.

These are only five inches deep, and that’s quite a step from the stock pan. This is achieved through the kick out on the sump; it comes out wider rather than going down.”

Choosing which of these pans fits your particular project is all a matter of how the front end of your car is laid out. If the crossmember is more toward the front, you’ll want a rear sump; vice versa, if the crossmember is further back, you’ll want to opt for the front sump.

Mustang-Specific 5.0L Coyote Pan

The oil pan that we’ll be taking a hands-on look at in this article is the brand spanking new pan designed specifically for the 2011- and later Ford Mustang GT.

The K-member on the new Mustang presents a challenge in terms of clearance and fitment for aftermarket oil pans, and Canton has designed this one to fit as a direct OEM replacement without any alterations under the hood.

“On the kit car pans, the ultimate goal was to gain clearance, but on the Mustang pan, it really revolved around the K-member,” said Behuniak. This new pan has a stock replacement temperature bung and bungs for the dipstick and low oil warning sender.

Whether your engine is stock off the showroom floor or you’ve already had your way with it in the garage, this new pan from Canton offers great advantages over the stock unit. Explains Behuniak, “With this pan, you get much improved oil control, and as anyone that deals with engines can attest, when you lose oil pressure, you’re going to cook a motor. Our baffling system ensures that the oil stays where it’s needed as opposed to sloshing around like it does in the stock pan.”

“Oiling is oiling,” continues Behuniak. “Even if you’re going to be driving your car conservatively, you can never be too sure about the oil.” Despite exploding out of the gate, only now are custom 5.0L engine builds really becoming prevalent, and part of such a build is the need for aftermarket oiling solutions that go above and beyond what the FoMoCo engineers have provided. Canton Racing Products has provided an answer to what many engine builders and enthusiasts have been asking for with the release of these new pans, and not only do we expect them to ride under a number of 2011-13 Mustangs, but Fox-body, SN-96, and S197 swaps, and likely even street rods and the like.