to all
hi im brand new here but ive been reading alot of related posts so ill try to give all the details one may need to help me.
i have a 292 that i have just half way rebuilt (cleaned up) with new rings, rod bearings,top and bottom gaskets. and ive got it in a truck and tried it out, and i have like 1 pound of oil pressure at idle and up to 25 at a good rpm. i have a mechanical guage on it going into the engine just behind the oil filter assembly. i have tried the trick where you run a drill with a rig to turn the pump counter clockwiseand its the same as running it (by the gauge)i put another pump from another 292 i have and it got worse. so im ordering a new one tomorrow. oddly enough it burns oil bad on the drivers side.

other pionts...i used copper rtv to seal the gaskets, didnt replace valve seals(didnt get them with the kit),is it possible to put head gaskits on wrong?
thanks

 

...Welcome to Ford Truck Enthusiasts!

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You can check your head gasket orientation now. Each gasket has one square corner. It goes forward and on the intake manifold side. You can feel the gasket corner with your finger with it installed.
What were the tolerances between rod and main bearings?

 

In other words, one gasket is installed upside down compared to the other.

 

I don't want to sound mean, but did you check the bolt lengths on the rocker shafts? One of them is longer than the others because the rocker oil supply travels 'around' the outside of the bolt up into the rocker shaft. If I remember, there is a bevel in the cylinder head and a passage to the cam bearing internal to the block. If you used a short bolt there, it could allow lots of oil onto the top of the head ==> blue smoke special...
tom

 

tomw, I cant figure out what you're talking about? The oil supply goes from the top of the head thru a hole in the center rocker stand, through the stand and into a hole in the rocker shaft. All of the bolts holding the stands are the same length.
Even if the oil path to the shaft were completely blocked on both heads, that wouldnt result in the low oil pressure.

 

tomw jarred my brain - did you use the correct length head bolts in the right holes? Some of the bolts are longer and can bottom out in the wrong holes.

 

There may be several separate issues, but I'd look first, before anything else, at the oil pressure problem. You have a sick baby there-let's not make it terminal.

I think that you may have a serious internal oil leak somewhere. I'm guessing that's what Mike is looking at with the rod/main bearing clearances. One possible issue, if the rod clearance is excessive, or the side clearance, or both, is that you may be throwing a huge amount of oil on the dr. side cylinder walls, causing the oil burning.

Another possibility is that a gallery plug is missing or loose.

One more thing to look at is the oil pickup being positioned incorrectly, or a massive suction-side air leak at the joint or pickup itself.

Given what's been stated, I'd pull it before you have any more damage, like a rod tossed through the block side. At the very least, the bearings are likely scored. Good luck...

 

Am I thinking of the FE engine? One or the other has a bevel in the top of the cylinder head on the 3rd(?) from the left bolt that holds down the rocker arm shaft. That bolt is longer than the others. If a short bolt were used, it could, I thought, allow too much to flow to the head and flood that rocker cover, and additionally cause low oil pressure. Hey, I haven't looked at either engine for .. Oh, never mind, it has been longer than most of you guys have been around.
tom

 

well a new oil pump did it. , i was talking with a friend at work about the burning and he said it was probly getting around the rings cs i didnt hone the cylenders.... noone ever told me you had to and do that when you put new rings in . every nut and bolt is in its original place... i like to draw the pattern on cardboard and poke the bolts through. and what is a gallary plug and where is it. i think i did have a bad air leak going into the pump but the new 1 came with a new seal.