Congrats on the kid, but yes having time to work on trucks is greatly diminished with them.
CK5
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My "Official" Stepside Restoration Thread and LS Swap 2021
- Thread starter Chevy305
- Start date
So a little update on the old stepside. I got it out of storage only last weekend. Having a baby really puts a damper all things adult. That said I wouldn't go back, he's a joy. One happy healthy 4 month old baby boy. He's the spitting image of me hopefully that means lots of bonding in the garage in the years to come.
As far as the truck goes. It's still running/driving great. There's a few minor issues that I need to address though:
1. My front calipers are a little sticky. I need to lube the slides.
2. Need to grease the wheel bearings
3. Need to adjust the rear drums up a tad
4. The biggest thing that I just noticed is while accelerating hard and at say 4k+ rpm I noticed my oil pressure dropping significantly. Down to about 10 or so psi. My oil level is perfect so I'm not sure why this is happening. This has me wondering if this is a new problem or has been doing this since install only this time I watched my oil pressure instead of my tach.
So the engine is a 355 that I built. It's got a stock style summit racing brand pan and a high pressure high volume melling oil pump.
So here I am wondering if I should pull the pan and inspect the bearings as this engine could be slowly tearing itself apart. Or just change the oil or go to a deep sump pan or just put the blinders on and keep on running it.
Potential Silver lining: maybe this will force what I've wanted for a very long time...
As far as the truck goes. It's still running/driving great. There's a few minor issues that I need to address though:
1. My front calipers are a little sticky. I need to lube the slides.
2. Need to grease the wheel bearings
3. Need to adjust the rear drums up a tad
4. The biggest thing that I just noticed is while accelerating hard and at say 4k+ rpm I noticed my oil pressure dropping significantly. Down to about 10 or so psi. My oil level is perfect so I'm not sure why this is happening. This has me wondering if this is a new problem or has been doing this since install only this time I watched my oil pressure instead of my tach.
So the engine is a 355 that I built. It's got a stock style summit racing brand pan and a high pressure high volume melling oil pump.
So here I am wondering if I should pull the pan and inspect the bearings as this engine could be slowly tearing itself apart. Or just change the oil or go to a deep sump pan or just put the blinders on and keep on running it.
Potential Silver lining: maybe this will force what I've wanted for a very long time...
If you have one of the ORD engine crossmembers. It's stupid easy to pull the pan and check.
Congrats on the kid!
Congrats on the kid!
Oil brand and weight? How much was it running at before?
Yup I have the ORD big block cross member.
Valvoline 10w40 conventional
It runs 20psi warm idle and raises proportionally with rpm. 60-70 psi at WOT.
Sitting still I can rev the engine up and oil pressure is as it should be through the whole rpm range.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Well shit. You already know what to do then.
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Congrats on a healthy baby boy. I wouldn't say they put a damper on all things adult, just have to rethink how you do things.
change the oil, cut open the filter, and inspect the paper. You'll know if it's hurt
beags86
Eastbound and Down
I would also try a thicker oil, see what the pressure is and if there is a difference
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I agree, don't drop the pan yet, just cut the filter open and inspect it. Depending on what you see will determine what to do after that.
Also, you don't drive it in the winter really, so try some Valvoline VR-1 20W-50 racing if you like dyno oil, or some Mobil 1 15W-50 for synthetic. Or if you want to go all out get some Lucas Racing Full Synthetic 20W-50 racing oil. But that oil is made to be changed often without a lot of detergents in it so keep that in mind. It was however, the only thing that would maintain pressure at idle with a hot oil billet aluminum oil pump in a race motor driven on the street.
For dyno oil that VR-1 20W-50 kept oil temps WAY lower than a regular 10W-30 or 10W-40, I would highly recommend it for your engine instead of a 10W-40 just for that reason alone.
If the filter doesn't have any bearing material hiding in the crevices after it sits for a bit, then I would be checking with another gauge, or maybe adding an extra quart to be sure you have an adequate supply to determine if you actually are losing pressure or you just have a faulty gauge or sending unit.
Also, you don't drive it in the winter really, so try some Valvoline VR-1 20W-50 racing if you like dyno oil, or some Mobil 1 15W-50 for synthetic. Or if you want to go all out get some Lucas Racing Full Synthetic 20W-50 racing oil. But that oil is made to be changed often without a lot of detergents in it so keep that in mind. It was however, the only thing that would maintain pressure at idle with a hot oil billet aluminum oil pump in a race motor driven on the street.
For dyno oil that VR-1 20W-50 kept oil temps WAY lower than a regular 10W-30 or 10W-40, I would highly recommend it for your engine instead of a 10W-40 just for that reason alone.
If the filter doesn't have any bearing material hiding in the crevices after it sits for a bit, then I would be checking with another gauge, or maybe adding an extra quart to be sure you have an adequate supply to determine if you actually are losing pressure or you just have a faulty gauge or sending unit.
I had goofy oil pressure readings for a LOOOOOOONG time.
Found out I had forgotten to put the O-rings in the distributor. Oil pressure was always low and coming off the freeway, it would dip to 10psi for a while. I know your engine has been fine and it's only recently be goofy.
Just throwing that out there. I'm not ashamed dammit, it was the first engine I ever played with.
Found out I had forgotten to put the O-rings in the distributor. Oil pressure was always low and coming off the freeway, it would dip to 10psi for a while. I know your engine has been fine and it's only recently be goofy.
Just throwing that out there. I'm not ashamed dammit, it was the first engine I ever played with.
I'm curious, did you ever add them and see a difference after all that time? Because most distributors aren't grooved for o-rings, and most blocks aren't chamfered for o-rings. So even if you do add one to your dizzy you will most likely tear it on the way in. So if you did add one and saw a difference that would be an interesting data point I would like to hear about.
I've actually filed a tiny groove on the bottom of the housing in certain applications to direct an oil path onto the distributor gear (for a bronze gear). Which is kind of the opposite of adding an o-ring.
Ok, now awaiting the "that's what she said" type comments...
beags86
Eastbound and Down
Where at on the distributor housing? I'm not visualizing it.
Ya I'm not sure what you mean as well.
I've run the VR1 20w50 before. It's good oil. I only got away from the VR1 because I went with a roller cam so I didn't need the extra zinc for the lifters.
I'll chip open the filter and check it. Then go from there.
Some aftermarket distributors have two o-ring grooves on the housing just above the cam gear to seal pressure more precisely than just the slip fit. Unless he's talking about o-rings inside the distributor itself, which I've never seen as it's usually just a bushings and splash lubrication through that hole in the side thats up in the lifter valley.
I circled the o-ring grooves on the MSD distributor below. In between the two grooves is where the oil hole intersects that passes through all the lifter bores on that bank of the engine.
If you are talking about the groove, I'm talking a tiny groove (.010-.030") in the bottom land of the distributor, like this...
But I try to time the groove so it hits the gears right before they mesh. As you rotate the distrubutor to change timing, the groove will obviosuly move with it.
It's not usually necessary I just like to do it on some setups with steel cams and/or bronze gears that aren't just drag only cars.
I've also drilled a tiny hole before but that's tricky and if you break a tiny drill bit off in there you get really mad, at least that's what I'm told.
But I try to time the groove so it hits the gears right before they mesh. As you rotate the distrubutor to change timing, the groove will obviosuly move with it.
It's not usually necessary I just like to do it on some setups with steel cams and/or bronze gears that aren't just drag only cars.
I've also drilled a tiny hole before but that's tricky and if you break a tiny drill bit off in there you get really mad, at least that's what I'm told.
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Yes, I have a Pro-Billet MSD with the grooves at the bottom for O-rings.
Between the two O-rings is a whole and I'm guessing its for lubricating the shaft???
I saw an increase in oil pressure. It no longer idled at 15-20 psi hot. It's now at 30-35 psi. Standard Mellings pump
Between the two O-rings is a whole and I'm guessing its for lubricating the shaft???
I saw an increase in oil pressure. It no longer idled at 15-20 psi hot. It's now at 30-35 psi. Standard Mellings pump
Interesting, I wonder if your distributor bore in the block was oversized, good information. Thank you.
I haven't been able to instal the o-rings without tearing them. And the MSD instructions say to only put them on if you chamfer the block like so. The bottom chamfers would only be necessary for saving the o-ring when removing it. If you just put new on for reinstall they should be fine. However, I think you have proven that some blocks fair better with the o-rings. I've never seen a factory GM distributor with o-ring grooves. And it would be extremely difficult to chamfer a block, especially without having a bare block as you don't want iron shavings or particles in there. Good luck chamfering in between the two areas as shown. Some small block don't have the gap in the middle but still have a hole there that needs to be chamfered or it can tear the o-ring as well.
And yes, if there is a hole inside the o-rings it's probably for lubricating the lower bushing. There is also a much larger hole further up the housing that is made for the oil to escape into the lifter valley without traveling up between the housing and shaft and leaking out the distributor. This large hole also can provide additional splash lubrication to the lower bushing if there isn't a feed between the two lands.
Some people put on just the top o-ring and leave the bottom one off on purpose to lubricate the distributor gear more.
