oil pumps?
The best pump you can buy for these engines is opinion, My opinion is Go with the melling 10296, I did its better than the OE pump, better quality and better parts.
Sounds to me like your buddy is blowing a cloud of smoke.
Based on the quality of the new Mexican made OEM pumps, I certainly would hope that the Mellings are better, but still... I'd love to actually see pics.
If the melling isn't visually better than this poor excuse for a GM part, then I'm not wasting my money:



