Hey everyone i got a new car and need some help! When you crank the car up and look at the oil pressure gauge it is on 0 oil pressure, and only goes up when you give it gas. Does this mean my oil pump is bad? Another question is when its cold and i crank it up it turns over good. When you get it warm, cut it off and try to crank it back up it will barley turn the motor over. The battery has been charged and it wont jump off when hot! There's also a slight popping in the trans it feels like. The cars a 1987 trans am with a 383 stroker 5 speed. The people i bought it off of had traded a truck for it about 2 weeks ago. It has a roller cam in it "not sure what kind or size" an 850 holly "supposed to have some work done to it to give more fuel" a holly denomonator intake. The car runs sick. It doesn't have what it should. If so help answer my questions, and let me get this car back in shape. I'll try and answer questions about it the best i can.

... ' When you crank the car up and look at the oil pressure gauge it is on 0 oil pressure, and only goes up when you give it gas. Does this mean my oil pump is bad?
'Another question is when its cold and i crank it up it turns over good. When you get it warm, cut it off and try to crank it back up it will barley turn the motor over'...

The chances the Oil pump is bad due to wear or bad gears is very slight, compared to bearing wear and clearance issues that are the most likely cause of low oil pressure in your engine.
I would suggest pulling the pan and checking clearances first - you can add a new pump, if needed, after you do the repairs in there.
Worn or incorrectly installed Cam bearings can also cause low pressure issues.

The 'Hot Start' issue you discribe is very common on chevys and can be rectified by;
A.) checking the timing - to much advance will cause this
B.) checking the condition of the starter motor - worn brushes or dragging armature (due to worn end bearing) can be a common cause for high amperage draw when warm
C.) check all the wiring and terminal connections - bad connection joints or undersized/defective cables will cause this

Hope this helps;
John

You might get lucky and all that happened was the oil pump pickup fell off, and hasn't hurt anything (yet). Althought the way my luck goes, that wouldn't be the case. I agree with the above statement...the chances of just the oil pump being shot are slim indeed...it is very likely thrashed bearings. Did it do this when you test drove it before buying it?
I would drain the oil out of it and see if it smells like gas...I would almost bet that it does. A 850 puddle dumper, modified to give even more fuel, is a whole lot of carb for a 383. And if it has starting problems, I would bet that the throttle has been pumped many times while trying to start it unsucessfully and fuel washed the bores and destroyed any lubricity of the oil...thus killing the bearings and giving little to no oil pressure. I've seen it happen a LOT on engines with double pumpers that are way bigger than needed.
Another concern I would have is the it sounds like they used the original 5 speed in the car (T-5), which not only is way too weak for even a mild 350 unless its a Tremac or something like that, but they probably also used the original 305's flywheel assembly and corresponding weak factory starter. If the connections are tight and the cable appears to be in good condition, then you either have a weak factory starter or just a tired starter. The engine bays on them cars is tight and holds a lot of heat, which is hard on parts like starters and alternators.
I would also be concerned with cooling issues, as these cars usually have cooling issues when using the factory style cooling system on a hi-po engine. And if it was overheated good a couple of times, that will also thin the oil out excessively and kill bearings.

Of course, I could be all wrong here, but these are the first things that come to mind for me.

Changed oil in the car today to see how it would do. I put 4 quarts of castrol 20-50 and 1 quart lucus, and a new filter. When we cranked it up the oil pressure quickly jumped to 40 then as i took it down the road and back it dropped to to about 10 "idle". The car has electric fans and runs at about 190. I plan on changing the carb and adjust the timing. The timing feels like its up way to high. Thanks for the posts, any other possibilities?

When we cranked it up the oil pressure quickly jumped to 40 then as i took it down the road and back it dropped to to about 10 "idle". The car has electric fans and runs at about 190.
Seems you have a handle on things.

Ten PSI is okay, right at the bottom limit. Closer to 15 would be better, tells me the engine has rode hard, excessive bearing clearance.

Holley 850 is too big. Shoot for a 750 vacuum or a 600-650 cfm.