I stumbled across this article in Hot Rod the other day, and thought this might be a viable option for the lack of upper lubrication problem. Scroll down about half way and look at this contraption the guy designed. I wonder how much speciality machine work had to happen to make this setup? http://www.hotrod.com/articles/dail...acks-hidden-fuel-injection-updated-internals/
The biggest problem with the stock oiling system was sludge build up from the oils of the day. On a fresh build the stock system will work fine when used with modern oils... that's stock to mild builds... I have no experience with race Y blocks so I cant speak about those.
Its a really thin cam bearing. and if its a little bit worn. That lets the oil leak internally. Expecially if the passage is a bit plugged by sludge. Path of least resistance type of deal.
So all the conversion to pressurized rockers arms consist of is doing away with the factory oil return tube? that will not cure the problem of not enough oil reaching the rockers. We have been mashing those steel tubes flat for decades. The first article with the braided plumbing in the lifter galley that would address the delivery of oil to the rockers.
That system still does not address the transfur slot in the head surface. A lot of heads get milled which makes it worse. Did this guy look at the oil passages in a Y block ? The oil from the filter hits the passage that feeds the mains and cam bearings even with the 4th main oil look at the filter location. So taking oil from the 5th main is no closer than the stock 3rd main location.
Oldsmobile rockers were also short of oil. I use Chevy lifters and 67 Cad push rods. You have to clean up the oil return holes in the head and block.
One thing will not fix the problem. The cam bearings have to be new and properly aligned. The oil feed hole in the block and head have to be cleaned (pipe cleaner and solvent) and the mating openings chamfered. Next the rocker arms need to be new or near new with no grooving. The rocker arms as well. Make sure they are on the shaft the correct way. Next the shafts need to plugged. I chamfered the oil holes in the shaft for the rockers. New oil pump and thin shim under the pressure spring and all was good. I also used light weight pushrods and the supercharger camshaft. 272+ .040, 2x4 with autolites
I always enlarged that slot and radused the sides of the oil passages so as to lessen the dogleg effects. However I think the internal leakage coming from around the narrow cam bearings is a big part of the trouble. The later camshafts had a groove turned in the center of the journal to help with the oil delevery
This one https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=AwrEwSzlFRRb15QAPtyJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBsZ29xY3ZzBHNlYwNzZWFyY2gEc2xrA2J1dHRvbg--;_ylc=X1MDOTYwNjI4NTcEX3IDMgRhY3RuA2NsawRiY2sDODdnM2w5OWRoMGQ0cCUyNmIlM0QzJTI2cyUzRDZtBGNzcmNwdmlkA0lxYVdLREV3TGpHRHdIVktXeEEwbVFzVE1qQTFMZ0FBQUFBN0dCU3MEZnIDeWZwLXQEZnIyA3NhLWdwBGdwcmlkA3c2enhyQktuUnRhdE1qVWdFZjBxb0EEbXRlc3RpZANudWxsBG5fc3VnZwMwBG9yaWdpbgNpbWFnZXMuc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDMARwcXN0cgMEcHFzdHJsAwRxc3RybAMyNARxdWVyeQN5IGJsb2NrIGhlYWQgb2lsIHBhc3NhZ2UEdF9zdG1wAzE1MjgwNDMwMzcEdnRlc3RpZANudWxs?gprid=w6zxrBKnRtatMjUgEf0qoA&pvid=IqaWKDEwLjGDwHVKWxA0mQsTMjA1LgAAAAA7GBSs&p=y+block+head+oil+passage&fr=yfp-t&fr2=sb-top-images.search.yahoo.com&ei=UTF-8&n=60&x=wrt#id=12&iurl=http://www.diyford.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/8-8.jpg&action=click The oil passage in the block and the head do not line up so the groove connects them. The other grove would be behind the cam bearing like the FE or what chevy did on the small block.
That engine that hot rod did the article for is my friends 50' ford. Keith dorton built it its a real sweet engine. They are building another one right now for his 55' ford convert.