Ok, I pulled the valve cover on the noisy side (driver side). With feeler gauge in hand..I cranked the motor. I go to check the rockers...and THERE'S NO OIL!! nothing...not a drop was making it to the top of my motor. I let it run about 30 to 40 more seconds and still NOTHING. What is going on here. I think I've found the source of all my headaches..but what would keep oil from reaching the top end????

 

Are those old rocker shafts full of sludge and the oil holes pluged up?
You install the necked down rocker stand bolts in the proper location, one on each side? On a friends high mileage 390 I loosened the rocker stands just so the stands lifted off the heads around .010", started the motor and oil pored out of the stands where the oil passage feeds the top end. His shafts were plugged solid with sludge that caused a dry top end.
Another way is remove the rockers, pushrods and plugs, crank the motor, you should have a stream of oil from the oil passage on each head.

.....=o&o>.....

 

would that affect my oil pressure as well?

 

Loosen the rocker shaft bolts and crank it over (like Beemer Nut said) and you might see where your oil flow is. Shafts could be gummed or oil passages could be plugged. Under one of the rocker mount pedestals is the oil galley hole.

 

With the rockers not bleeding off oil your oil pressure should read higher than if your rockers are getting oil.
Sounds to me that this is a high mileage motor, don't get mad at me but when you had the pan and pump off you should of rolled in a set of rod and main bearings, they are cheap and would of taken an hour and half to change out. I take new pumps apart and hand lap for tight clearances besides making sure the pressure relief bore and plunger are polished.
I had a Mellings HV pump with .007" difference from one side to other from body to gear besides .004" difference between the drive and driven gear.
Brand new crap! Leave nothing to chance and trust no one including manufactured parts.

.....=o&o>.....

 

I don't see how that would make me mad at you...if anything, I should be mad at myself. I was seriously debating pulling the pan again, and changing the bearings..that seems to be the culprate with most people's oil pressure issues anyways. The motor, i believe, is stock...so it's got many years on it, and God only knows how many miles. I'll get the top end sounding good again, and probably tackle the bearings next...

oh, and btw. Pulled the bolt on the rockers, cranked her up and ...tons of oil... So the assembly is disassembled and soaking in parts cleaner right now.... I just hope I didn't cause much damage running it dry.

Once again...appreciate all the advice... More than you probably realize!

 

On the rocker shafts they have small freeze plugs pressed into the ends, remove one end and clean out the shafts as a soak will not get it as clean. Also clean the rocker stands and rockers. When you remove the rockers mark them so the assembly goes back together as before. Check the clearances between the rockers and shafts for wear, too loose and you'll flood the top end with oil. If compression numbers came up good I would install mains and rod bearings, check pump clearances then get the maximum use out of it.

.....=o&o>.....

 

my truck did that, you might make sure the oil ports in the heads are clear. You might also have something in the oil pan getting sucked up on the oil pump screen.

 

Here's another thing to remember...
The only reason I know about this is because I watched some guy replace everything and pull out his hair before my dad told him what was wrong. (Don't ask me how my dad knew). I still don't know how or why this happens like this. Here's the story...

This guy down the street rebuilt his own 352 in a mid-sixties Galaxie or something. He recycled some of his old parts that had minimal wear and were useable.
When he got it finished, after it was broke in, it smoked. The harder he got on it, the more it smoked. He yanked the heads back off cuz he thought the machine shop messed up the guides. The heads came back with no problems.
He figured the rings didn't seat. He yanked the block, disassembled it, had it checked and rehoned, bought some new rings, put it back together and had the same smoking problem. Frustrated, he parked it.
He was down at my dad's shop one day b.s-ing and swallowing Budweiser and he told my dad what the problem was that he was having with the car. Without hesitation, my dad told him, "You put the rocker shafts on upsidedown."
The guy's jaw hit his sneakers.
He went home and that weekend, pulled the valve covers off, yanked the shafts and rotated them so that the lubrication holes were on the bottom side (friction side) of the rocker. He had the holes pointing upwards. The smoking stopped.
I never forgot that and since then I've built several FE's. Every time I've checked the direction of the holes on the shafts.
I still don't understand why it causes the engine to burn oil and I never asked my dad how he knew.

 

lol i feel like a dipstick here... but my 352 made the same noise... and low and behold, it needed oil, bad. that stopped the ticking noise.

 

Rocker shafts installed up side down is dandy way to build a smoker but jgallanttx has low oil pressure with dry rockers without a smoking problem. He hasn't removed the rocker assemblies, pulled all the bolts and rotated the stands 180 degrees on the shafts. He also stated oil flowed from the heads after loosening up the rocker stands to create a leak which proves the oil passage in the head to the stands is clear as well installing a HV pump, would you think he would reinstall a dirty plugged up oil pick up screen?

.....=o&o>.....

 

No sir, Beemer Nut, just making sure the 'ol boy's got them shafts where they need to be

 

I wasn't looking for trouble or picking on ya. Maybe when he has the rockers and shafts cleaned up then he'll discover the world of top end flooding and smoke, hope not.

.....=o&o>.....

 

ok, got everything cleaned up, and reinstalled. My next question would now have to be. How much oil should I be seeing come out at the rockers. I'm getting a 'dribble' at the holes above my pushrods, on the rockers. It's not shooting out like crazy or anything, and the motor still taps. But it is oiling more than it did. I didn't completely dissassemble the rocker assembly...I cleaned the shaft out, much like one would clean a rifle barrel, and then cleaned out each oil passage ( on the rockers, and on the shaft) so I am confident it all is very clean and free of debris/sludge. .... Oil pressure didn't change, up or down.

 

Just a dribble is all you need. That's exactly what mine does.