Thanks for the replies. I decided to pull the motor and put in the spare 493. I will go over the entire motor with a fine tooth comb. It is too nice a shortblock to just throw bearings in and risk losing it. I did get a reply from melling and they want the pump back. The shaft is not scored; it is just really tight in the pump housing; like the clearance closed up or the shaft is bent. I have other rotors, so I may see if it is a bad rotor or pump housing (just to see what is wrong). The intermediate shaft was not twisted nor was the bronze gear worn (as hard as the pump was to turn I expected to find a problem there).

With all the oil flying around in there, that is the last place I expected to run dry. But, I agree with Andy (BTW, love your book). I think the bearing started to go or something got into the pump and caused the problems. Good thing it didn't happen at 134 mph (Oil pressure dropped on the return road).