My son and I have almosrt finished the 67 after 3 1/2 years. The 327 that is in it was rebult in 1993 with a few performance goodies. It has mostly sat since then and has 10,000 miles since then. When we were going through the car I put a new oil pump (regular Mellings) to be safe and the rear main bearing looked like new when changing the seal. With 5 -30 oil it has about 45 lbs pressure cold at idle however only about 5 hot at 600 rpm. It does increase with rpm 2000 is about 25 -30 lbs and over 3500 is around 40+ hot. I assume the gauge is ok cause it does increase with rpm and is a new Stewart Warner electric. I changed the oil and cut up the oil filter when I unfolded the pleats I can see some fine metal particles not many but some. Dont know if thats normal as I have never cut 1 up. So do I take the engine out, leave it or? Not sure what to do and why the problem started, according to receipts I have looks klike the crank was turned .010 however maybe sloppy assembly by the machine shop or? Advice requested as we are planning to cruise this summer with any luck.

Micky,
There is always a little junk in the filter. Without a picture its hard to say if yours is normal or not. I would change the oil and filter and run it for an hour or so, then cut the filter open again and see what it looks like. If it's clean, you should be ok. 10 lbs of oil pressure for every 1000 rpm is considered ok by GM. I like a little more myself, but my 99 Tahoe has never had more than about 40 lbs at speed, cold or hot. Personally, I would plumb in a mechanical gauge temporarily to see what it reads. Are the lifters making any noise at idle ? Usually around 5 lbls or so you will start hearing them.
I would also probably be running 10w40 or similar oil. If the clearances are a bit loose, the 30 wt might not be enough. Do you remember what the oil pressure was back before you parked it ? Same gauge ?

No it doesnt start getting any lifter noises or anything. I will put on a Napa filter in place of the Fram and try a little heavier oil. The engine sounds great. We got the car 3 1/2 years ago with all the receipts showing the rebuild. Looked great when I had the pan off cross hatch in cylinders etc and very clean. This is a new electric gauge, I will try my old mechanical cheapie as you have suggested. I dont know what the oil pressure used to be hot as we drove it about 2 or 3 miles when we got it and then took the car totally apart. What a learning experience it has been for both of us.....

Personally,
I would can all of the aftermarket filters and put an AC Delco one on it.
Just my opinion,

One thing about a mechanical gauge is that it's real!!!

You can buy a gauge for probably $8.00 and pipe it right onto the back port on the block and look at it for a bit!!

Or does the block also have the front port? If so use it!!

I've done this before..

pdq67

I think 5-30 is too light for an old Chevy V8 and may be contributing to your low pressure.

Hey PDQ67 its a 67 block is there another spot at the front of the block to try a mechanical oauge? I will try 10-40 as well.

10/30 or 10/40.
Napa GOLD filter. Not silver.

Check just below the "S" curve on the intake on the pass. side front for a little square-headed pipe plug that should/might be there in the block's cam area.

Use it to install a gauge.

pdq67

If it's a Flint block, it'll be as shown in the photo below (1/8" NPT hole); if it's a Tonawanda block, it won't be there at all. :thumbsup:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2002-2/13522/FlintPlug640.jpg

:beers:

Update, it has developed a knocking sound and very low oil pressure even at higher RPM. :-( We are in the process of removing the engine and will post pics of bottom end.

Update, it has developed a knocking sound and very low oil pressure even at higher RPM. :-( We are in the process of removing the engine and will post pics of bottom end.

Rod Bearing (s) #1 0r 2 most likely.

5w-30 is OK if the hot idle pressure with a stock pump is 20 lbs or higher.
The clearences maybe a tad too big if its less, try 10w-30 to see if it improves.

We used 20w -50 after posting the first note however still ended up with the knock. I see some vey fine gray particles in the oil on the dip stick. Im going to drain today. We will get the engine out soon - Im in the middle of home renos as well so cant give it priority unless the wife goes out.......

I had a '67 327c.i. in a truck I had. It always ran 20 lbs oil pressure at idle with 10w30 Havoline. Had 186 heads with cast flat tops/w/4 valve reliefs, Melling oil pump, stock water pump, Edelbrock 600cfm and a Summit street cam. After I built it, I ran it for a couple days and then pulled the motor and removed the oil pan and cleaned it out and checked for excessive metal from wear and changed the oil filter out. Overkill, I know. I'm ADD/OCD I guess. It was 1994 and one of my first engines rebuilding and wanted to see how much wear was happening. I found a few very fine metal shavings in the filter with a magnet and I had a magnetic drain plug in the pan that had few small particles trapped, nothing too bad. Last I heard the present owner is still driving the truck 5 days a week.

Look, my old, '64, Ford Fairlane S/W's 260 motor had like a "flickering light" after I did a "dingle-berry" hone "shade-tree" overhaul to it years and years ago and I ran the old sucker for I forget how many years after!!

Throw straight 30wt or 40wt in her and go!

pdq67

Good story on that pdq67...In high school I had a 73 vega...everybody has a vega story,terrible motor,made great dragsters tho'. Anyway,we were going to make it into a drag car but in the mean time we used it for basic transport and didnt really care about what was going to happen to the motor...which by the way was using literally GALLONS of oil and had low pressure etc.We actually put...and this is the truth...1 qt of 10-40 with 3 qts of rear end grease...it had lots of pressure-hot - and slowed the usage way down.we drove it a good while like that and the old 4 banger lasted until we pulled it...ah to be young and not care huh?

Latest update, motor is out and lots of bearing damage to the mains, didnt check rods yet cause the crank will need to be removed and can be checked then. Crank was already turned .010 and will need to be turned again. What is the max that the crank can be turned safely? When I was checking the oil pump by turning the shaft a clump of like matted dirt with bearing shaviings fell out of the hole that supplies oil to the engine :-(. I was very careful when we installed the new pump and rear seal so dont know how this dirt or whatever got into the pump. I dont want to give up on this engine yet as it was rebuilt about 10,000 miles ago and the cylinders, pistons etc look like new. On the other hand I dont want to invest a bunch into it either. I dont know for sure what caused the problem, am I asking for more probable trouble to have the crank turned if possible and reinstall with new bearings, pump etc myself rather than taking it to a machine shop. I have zero experience in bottom ends, more of a remove and replace kinda guy....

You need to check everywhere for debris. Pull the oil galley plugs, etc. and clean it all up. Pay close attention to the cylinder walls and piston skirts. Check the cam/lifters too. Most filters have a bypass in them and debris could easily have gone through the entire motor. As to oil filters, the advice of using a NAPA Gold is dead-on. They're actually a Wix filter, which is top of the heap in quality. That's all you'll see me use on my race motors AND street vehicles are the Wix or NAPA filters. Lots of info is out there on filter testing, and it's scary to see what kind of garbage construction and materials some of the major brands have in them. Don't fall for the TV commercials touting some brands, trust me. As to the crank, you can probably go .020" under, and if you pay attention to details can sure do things yourself.

An elderly mechanic taught me yaers ago a trick similiar to yours.

With the crank removed from the block, as the engine was out for a crankshaft change, he got a 5 gallon bucket of kerosene, a length of hose, and a siphon air gun. He put the hose onto the siphon gun, dropped the other end into the kerosene and injected kero into the block and cleaned the oil galleys. "One never knows where the block has been."

He did the same with the new crank, hit all the oil holes. The debris in the oil galleys goes straight through the bearings first and into the crankcase.

Once the engine was together, he primed it and checked oil pressure. If it was good and rockers got plenty of oil, the engine got installed.

Most crankshafts can be done as far as 0.030 inches, but, they are for Mom's daily driver.

One thing i read in lingenfelters how to build a small block is this. Where the rear main cap is there is the dist drveshaft hole, a stud on each side then a hole that should be plugged. if not plugged the car will see 20-25 lbs less pressure at idle and make you think it is a bearing, bad oil or such. I know because when i put my engine together i did not nkow thsi and my pressure is at 5 at idle. check that out. its at the end in this book
http://books.google.com/books?id=GUC52-afG5EC&dq=john+lingenfelter+book&pg=PA1&ots=HY2QIqgFYv&sig=akowxr-pu0bU4-0cTGC1LT2bca0&prev=http://www.google.com/search%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26q%3Djohn%2Blingenfelter %2Bbook&sa=X&oi=print&ct=result&cd=1

You said you have crank main brg damage.. consider a new turned crank kit with mains and rod brgs. Maybe you will find a 10/10 but 20 on the mains is not bad. Be on look out for wear in the main caps , just in case the bearing may have spun in the block. Consider pulling all motor apart checking rings. If possible , do a leakdown test first,, This may tell you how bad the rings are. Check ring gaps on disassembly,, if out of spec. find the .005 size to your pistons and butt file to fit. Do check for that missing rear oil galley plug.

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