Oil pressure??? Yeah...75 lbs!! WHAT THE HELL?

since were talking about oil pressure i got a question. How low is too low to where it starts to hurt the motor. I freshend up my 302 you know bearing and rings and oil pump and w/e else and discovered that the bearing clearance is a little bigger than it should, so im a little worried about what my oil pressure is going to be.

man after seeing your motor, i gotta polish my cal custom valve covers

 

10 psi per 1000rpm is a common standard, heard of people living with as low as 4 or 5 psi at idle. HV oil pumps are recommended when clearances are on the high side, more able to maintain the pressure even though the losses at the bearings are higher than normal.

 

4 or 5 at idle isn't that big a deal as long as it comes up at speed. Shooting for 10#s per 1000 rpm, idling at 600-700 is pretty close. I used to have an old ford that had around 5# at idle but only 20# on the freeway. I pulled the pan, rolled in some fresh bearings and a pump. Then it idled at 30# and 80# on the freeway. American V-8s are all pretty forgiving and will tolerate both ends of the oil pressure spectrum.

 

i doubt that i've built more engines than you,but then again,i don't build SBCs.
i CAN think of situations where you would need a HV pump,but for fresh engines that have close tolerances on the rod and main bearings there is no need.
my firm belief is that HV pumps are a band-aid fix for worn bearings/journals.
here's the real question,if you're so smart,where do i get an oil pump for a '63 Rambler with E-stick?

 

i never said it would empty the pan.
what it WILL do,on an SBF,is put extra load on the oil pump drive and/or the distributor drive gear.

 

and if anyone is wondering why i'm so fucking cranky,it's because i've been doing this --> http://www.allpar.com/fix/headgasket-2.html all fucking weekend

 

I have got a http://precisionoilpumps.com/ pump (badass pumps) in my 331. When it is cold it has 50 psi at idle. After it warms up it has 20-25 at idle, and 50 when cruising. Oh, and I'm running 10w30 Valvoline.

 

That is why you use one of these:

 

wow, thats real purty....i would put a HV Pump in it if it was mine

 

Send some of the excess pressure to Grimlock for his flathead...

Brian

 

Is that the engine from your Neon?...

 

Yeah, I was gonna ask what weigh oil is in it, since I don't think anyone asked.

Since its a new engine, I would let it break in and see if the pressure drops any. (you did change the oil after the initial break in, right?)

I've heard that sometimes you get a filter that will spike the oil pressure.

I'm guessing that the machine shop just set it up on the tight side.

...and 210 is kinda hot, but if it gets into the 220-230 range... that is what you need to worry about.