I'm using a mechanical gauge, with the line running into the oil filter housing, where the electric sending unit was. I'll try changing the housing and gasket, I have a few housings lying around. also, would the fact that my truck sits at a raked stance have any effect on pressure? it's 2wd, lifted 2 in. with 31in. tires in back.
the front has the original suspension and stock size tires.

 

no the raked stance wont matter since your pickup is in the front of the motor. i am running 33" rear tires with 29" front no lift . i personally would be worried with anything less than 30 psi at idle. like i mentioned in my earlier post the lowest i go is 50 psi at idle. i have heard t said that the minimum oil pressure is 10 pounds per 1000 rpm. that still seems low to me.if i were you i would pull the pan and replace the pump with a new high volume one. and make sure you check all the clearances on the new pump to make sure they are in spec.
mattb

 

Most low oil pressure problems are not related to a pump problem. Changing a pump is good sense if you feel there may be excessive wear in it, or clogging etc. Most low oil pressure probelms are from bearing wearing. Most times 20 lbs is considered perfectly normal for any engine at idle. Many engines with wear will drop lower than this. 10 lbs per 1000 rpm is a good rule.

 

so, since I'm running about 500-600 rpm at idle, 5-6 lbs should be ok? I really doubt it has to do with excessive wear, I'd think that would make the oil pressure seem low all the time, not only after hard running.

 

just a question, how many miles are on this motor i know you said you rebuilt it last year, but how many miles are on it? what type of rebuild did you do? a quickie re-ring job, or was it a very thorough strip down, shake and bake, bore/hone, new everything. has your pressure been like this since the rebuild, or is it a recent problem? i know people are saying 6 psi is enough, but personally i would not settle for less than 30 psi at idle, that is a lot of money to spend on a rebuild just to lose a motor to low oil pressure. but thats just my 2 cents.
mattb
mattbalfanz@webtv.net

 

The FE engine is my favorite ford engine, BUT, they have one design flaw that has been known for the last 30 plus years! That is that the oil passages to the heads are much to big.

Ford used to make a set of oil restrictors that took care of this, but they havn't been available for many years. So you have to make some yourself.

I'v seen many diferent types but I'v always used a pair of Holly main jets drilled out with a number 30 to 35 drill bit.

Remove the rocker shafts and drop these into the oil feed passages on each head. (dosn't matter if it's big end first or small).

You will see a big improvement in oil pressure with no extra wear in the valve train.

You see, the FE motors feed the heads first, then the bearings. As the valve train wears normaly, the oil flows much to freely from all the valve train components and robs pressure to the bearings. Thats why the hipo 427 used a side oiling system, To eliminate this problem! Thats why your pressure is good at cold startup (no expansion in the rockers etc.), and good at speed (when the oil pump is flowing more than the valve train bleeds off).

Try it and post your results. Many FE's go to a early grave from bearing starvation! The question I'v always had is "why, since Ford knew this to be a problem, and even produced a fix for it, didn't they change the design"? (as with the 427)

 

because it's not that significant of a problem, i've heard of 390's with 400,000 miles never rebuilt and dont consume very much oil, the center oiler block doesn't necessarily feed the valvetrain first, there is a oil passage that goes down the center of the block above the cam, this feed down through the cam bearings to the mains and on two cam bearings the valvetrain too, at the back of the block there are two passages that go down to feed the lifters these need to be plugged to run a solid cam, as far as racign goes, with enough preperation, either a center oiler or a sideoiler block will live with no real different in lifetime, dont forget that the sideoiler wasn't made until the SOHC was coming out, so the 427high risers were all center oiler blocks, they lived to 7000 rpm, just take your time and make sure the oil system is set up for your needs and it'll work

 

So your saying that an FE feeds the cam and mains first? I don't even know how to respond to that! FoMoCo used to make the restrictors! They wouldn't have done that if there wasn't a problem! I'm willing to stake my life on the fact that NO FE with an unmodified oiling systen has EVER reached 400,000 miles!!!!!!!

This is suposed to be a forum where we can all learn from each other. Not to make uninformed statements. I stand by my (time honored) recomendation!

 

now where, exactly do the restrictors go? and where can I find more information about them? is there a way to get the restrictors back out if they don't work?

 

>So your saying that an FE
>feeds the cam and mains
>first? I don't even know
>how to respond to that!

Well perhaps you should look at http://members.xoom.com/Brat360/FE_oiling1.jpg (it takes a while to load I scanned it at 150dpi resolution) where there is a picture of the oil route for sideoiler and center oiler block, both solid and hydraulic lifter, where I quite clearly see the oil go from the oil pump, to the 1st main bearing on up to "a oil passage that goes down the center of the block above the cam, this feed down through the cam bearings to the mains and on two cam bearings the valvetrain too, at the back of the block there are two passages that go down to feed the lifters" to quote my original post, and that descroption seems adequate when viewing the picture.

I also put a picture of how to plug the oil to the lifters for FORDTRUCKMAN1976, for a more in depth article on how to do it find the June 1996 issue of super ford, there is a two page article on it

>FoMoCo used to make the
>restrictors! They wouldn't have done
>that if there wasn't a
>problem!

I agree, and part of the problem was if a pushrod got bent and the lifter got tossed out, the oil leak would starve the rear main bearing, along with any leak in the oil system would starve any main bearing behind that leak since only the first main bearing got priority oiling, when they changed to the side oiler (see photo again) all of the main bearings had a oil passage to feed them not dependent of a cam bearing passage

I'm willing to stake
>my life on the fact
>that NO FE with an
>unmodified oiling systen has EVER
>reached 400,000 miles!!!!!!!

I dont blame you, I find it kind of hard to believe myself, but the person who told me that said it was first his fathers truck then his I believe, but the person through other discussions has proven himself a reliable source of information as far as I am concerned, and a relaible enough source of information that I felt comfortable saying what he told me
>
>This is suposed to be a
>forum where we can all
>learn from each other. Not
>to make uninformed statements. I
>stand by my (time honored)
>recomendation!

take a look at my scanned picture of the oiling system(s), then read how I described it and tell me if it was incorrect. Also if you want I have a picture of the oiling modification you were talking about with the restrictor in the head I can scan if you want me to. it's a very valid way of restricting oil.

 

ht*tp://memb*ers.xoom.com/Brat360/FE_oiling1.jpg

remove the two stars in ht*tp and memb*ers.xoom, for some reason the post didn't like the whole web address, but that's where you go to see the oiling system photo's

 

please do post the picture of the oil restrictors

 

ht*tp://memb*ers.xoom.com/Brat360/FE_oiling1.jpg

take the stars out of ht*tp and memb*ers, xoom doesn't always allow picture hosting because it takes away their bandwidth for other things. copy and paste it to the address spot spot of your web browser, it's only it on the page, and for some reason tonight the picture comes up, but earlier today it wouldn't, go figure, I'll try posting the actual link in this post and maybe it will show the picture, if not you have the address for the picture
http://members.xoom.com/Brat360/FE_oiling1.jpg

 

aparently you can also try hitting the reload button for this page, then the back button, then the forward button and the image loads, I hope xoom doesn't figure out we can do that LOL

 

FTM76
FE427TP Has done the same mod to his that I did to mine. When you remove the rocker arm shafts, the second pedistal from the front of the engine has a 5/16 dia. hole that feads the hollow rocker arm shafts along side the tapped hole, make sure they line up, rt shaft- right side.

I took a 3/8 long 5/16 dia piece of round stock and drilled an 1/8 hole thru it, was told by a guy that race a 427 in a mustang in '67 that they drilled them to .094 dia.
I then had a lite press fit tapping it into the oil feed hole. The other comment I would throw out is, go with a high volume rather then the high pressure pump from Melling
Jim