I have a 1968 with a 383 (400 crank). The engine has less than 100 miles on it. I drive it very rarely. It was running very well. Had so much torque that the wheels wouldn't hook up.
Sunday I fired up the car and just had it in my parking lot. I let it run for about 20 minutes just sitting there. It was fine. It warmed all the way up, I truned on the fan. Then it died on me. Basically I could just feel the engine start to lose idle - and 20 seconds later then engine stopped.
I tried to start it again, but it was having a very difficult time starting. It wouldn't idle at all or even begin to start unless I gave it an extreme amount of gas. I pumped the gas pedal as the car hiccuped and sputtered, and idled extremely poorly. I looked over and the mechanical oil gauge read zero. I turned the car off immedeately.
After that I started it again and the gauge would jump up to 25 psi for about a second and turn over, and then the car would immedeately die.

Hoping that I still had oil pressure, I ordered an electric Autometer gauge from ebay, which arrived today. My sending unit is in the front of the engine, not the back. I unscrewed the sending unit and cranked the engine for about 4 seconds, and there was no oil that came out of the front. I hooked up the gauge. It appears to work just fine, and when it it hooked up and turned on, the needle jumps to zero.

Yet it is the same result as the mechanical gauge.

This engine is brand new. What the hell happenned? I must say that when I installed it, I did not weld the pickup to the pump.

So, do you guys think I have no oil pressure? If so, what would cause the no oil pressure? Does this mean I have lost my pickup? What should I do (aside from see a therapist)?

Hmmm, I suppose you could pull the drain plug and phish around in the pan with a coat hanger to see if the pickup is clunking around inside.

I'm thinking something wierd mighta happened to the distributor? Took all the teeth off the gear maybe?
Put a timing light on and crank her over, see if the spark is close to where it should be. (after you check what Dave said, and change the oil filter too!)

Dont think the screen came loose.....check distributor....

If I have no pressure, will just cranking it (without starting it) hurt my bearings? How would distributor teeth get sheered?

Cranking engine with no oil pressure shouldn't hurt too much. Wrong gear with camshaft used, incompatable materials. Their is a difference between a .491" gear shaft diameter and a .500" diameter gear.

A black steel gear used with a cast iron camshaft. Some steel camshafts use a bronze gear.

Others here hopefully will expunge their knowledge. I've always used a black dist gear and never had any problems. Bronze gears are soft and due tend to give themselves up by design to keep camshaft in good shape.

Maybe some engine builders here will help find the solution.

combo of a bad filter and blocked bypass could do this...when it started and flashed 25 lbs, and back to 0 is why i say this...also, using the pumpshaft with a plastic retainer at the bottom of the dist is a nono with a high volume pump...you should always imo use the pump driveshaft with the steel centering collar that keeps it in place on the oilpump...if it comes off the pump, you`ll have no pressure...pull the dist, and look down the hole for the driveshaft being in place...dont run the motor anymore until you have some oil pressure...unfortunately, you could have already wiped the bearings, but we`ll address that when we get your pressure back...

Dont think the screen came loose.....check distributor....
3rd that

Try pulling the dist and getting a oil primer attached to a drill. Take out the drain plug and get a coat hanger.See if you can hear and feel and movement on the bottom of the pan,like maybe the pickup came loose.If theres something stuck in the oil pump pressure valve that could cause the problem...

Thanks everyone. I'm going to pull the distributor today.