FE oil pump ????

[Barry_R]

Couple things.
A proper distributor pin is a spiral - not a common split roll. A spiral pin is just that - it is nearly solid appearing from the end with the metal rolled around itself several times in layers. A common split roll pin is only a single layer thick and will fail in service. On occassion we have used a Chevy distributor pin as a service part - it has a larger diameter and will let us re-use & oversize the same hole in distributor shaft and gear.

I tend to be lower on my oil pressure needs than some guys. If you have the classic 10 lbs per 1000 RPM you are probably just fine IMHO. If I can get 20ish at idle and a gauge that moves nicely upwards with the throttle I'm OK. I personally think a lot of folks get way overly tricked out and fixated on oiling mods.

I've used Doug's pumps in a couple customer engines and they seem to be really nice parts. For my own stuff I just take the HV Melling and just diassemble and clean them. I use a "tootsie roll" on a die grinder to clean up the inlet passage which can be a bit funky with casting flash. I then check for relief valve movement, check the housing to top of gerotor clearance (.001-.0015) and reassemble. I don't safety wire them (although it's a fine idea) but I do use red Loctite.

Cross drilling was the old school method to try for 360 degree oiling to the rod bearings while keeping half groove main bearings. Standard drilling with a half groove main only gives you 180 degrees of positive oil feed. Its a balancing act between main bearing surface area and rod bearing lubrication. Some older 427 steel cranks even had grooved main bearing journals. I use the 3/4 groove F-M 125M main bearings and a standard drilled crank these days.