Hi guys, I just joined the forum, I'm the guy with the car in question. It's a 66 Satellite Hemi 4 speed, not that it matters for this thread. It's a numbers matching car with less than 1600 miles. It was drag raced in the '60s and maybe early '70s in Alabama, then found its way to Iowa and was stored in a garage for 28 years. Jeff Bobst found it, got it running and had it painted, and sold it to the guy I bought it from. Photo attached for the guy who requested it.
I appreciate all the responses, thanks! One reason Greg started this thread was to see if you all thought the oil pressure was too low for a stock motor, it appears that the consensus is yes, it is too low. The motor is worth more than any car I own, so the low pressure it makes me nervous.
I'm sure the engine has been apart, probably a couple of times. I was told the motor spun a rod bearing at one point. I don't know who worked on it or what's inside of it. It doesn't knock, smoke, or make any weird noises. I'm suspicious that it may have been rebuilt with loose clearances for racing.
I finally got the oil pump out last week, and found it missing an o-ring on the pump drive shaft. Pump rotors looked okay, relief spring was intact, I didn't check the rotor clearances. I have a new high volume Melling oil pump but I couldn't get it on because it wouldn't clear the motor mount. I couldn't get the motor mount out because it wouldn't clear the steering box. At that point I put a new o-ring on the pump drive shaft, put it back together and crossed my fingers. No change..
I guess I'll try to get the high volume pump on again, I'm going to loosen both motor motor mounts and lift the front of the engine with a cherry picker. If the new pump doesn't do the trick, I'll pull the pan. It has a 6 quart pan from another big block on it and there's a decent size dent in the bottom. Once it's apart, I'l plastigauge some rod bearings and see what I've got. As someone stated previously, thicker oil and a high volume oil pump won't really help if there are underlying issues with bearing clearances, lifter bore wear, etc.
Thanks again for all the input.