if you don't have the windage tray on now....your oil with foam and oil pressure will drop.

Don't know if you have since installed one, but you should.

You can use a stock oil pan on a 383 and the stock windage tray. Just stand it off 1/8" on the stock long main studs (or Miloden aftermarket or IIRC ARP makes them) using washers

 

The video with the mechanical gauge was helpful.

I think you have a windage and or oil control/feed issue.

Looks like the ball may be present as there is pooling oil where it's supposed to be...but when you go to put on the windage tray or pan with built in tray, double check it.

At a minimum, I would get a windage tray on it and switch to a Canton 20-013 pickup. I think the pickup did more for my problem than the pan as it centers up in the pan much better, but you can do the pan as well like I did to make sure you have 100% oil control. The Moroso pan I listed has a built in windage tray, crank scraper, oil control doors, and extra capacity. Just be aware that you may have to solve a few oil leaks.

Aftermarket pans don't fit as well as the stocker, as such they can leak. My understanding is that the Moroso pan fits better than the Canton...so I went with it. I had trouble spots at the rear of the pan(where it goes over crank) and also at a couple of pan bolt hole locations.

I also didn't like the amount of welding spatter left in the pan so I took the time to knock off all the left over welding spatter.

I solved the rear leak by laying down a bead of the right stuff along the entire back of the block(and front too), installed the oil pan gasket, laid a small bead on top of the oil pan gasket(the entire length of the front and rear), then put the pan on it. Needless to say, it takes a pry bar to get it off now....just need to be careful taking it off as not to scratch the block. Go between the pan and gasket when prying.

For the leaks around the oil pan holes, I just put a dab of the right stuff around the bolt head. Both holes where I had the leak are drilled into where the pan starts to curve down.....so the gasket can't seal them.

 

I wanted to do this. However the old owner used arp bolts not arp studs. I would have to have this block lined honed for the studs as you can not just convert from bolts to studs.

Leaning towards a windage issue. I have been looking at the moroso pan as well as the canton pickup. Would need a new pump as my pickup was welded to the pump. As converting to studs would be more money are the rods need to come out. I think this is the better option.

If and that is a big if I take the engine back out I will be checking everything over. That would include cam bearings. Trying to prime the system on lifter at a time to look for trash in the system. Front and rear plugs, and of course the stupid little ball. I guess another new oil pump would go in as well. What a waste of $125. Why is the GM pump $90. I would cheap out on a melling but the last one died at 137 miles. Plus with my buddies track record ones failing in his lt1 and ls1 cars and another buddies failing in his eclipse. Its not worth that hassle. Hello another $450 into the stupid car that is called the turd.


I will try to get a new video on the new pump,lifters and bearings tomorrow.

 

Well went back out today. Ran the car and made a video of the lifters. Back to no oil pressure in the top end. However I have pressure on the gauge. Video will be below as a picture of the cardboard after about 2 minutes of run time. This is the last time the car will be run. I am thinking that I am not getting pressure to the bottom end which will tear up about $120 in bearings. At this point I have a few options.

Option #1 Pull the engine and inspect. If nothing is wrong it becomes option two as its not worth putting back in. I think part of the issue in windage but not all of the problem.

Option #2 Pull the engine and trash the block. Put everything into the cars original block. Add in a factory windage and spend about $1000-1500 on a rebuild. Its out of budget. At this point I don't know what is good to reuse and what is not. At this point I don't trust anything in the car.

Option #3 Sell it all. Would be hard to sell whole. Would probably have to part everything out. I doubt anybody would pay me 4k for the car as is. After trying to sell it last time and having three buyers flake. I could part the engine out for about $2500. Add in $1500 for the rebuilt t-56 and I am at 4k. Then its the roller, ws6 hood, corvette wheels, corsa muffler and anything else I might have laying around. Could bring my total up to $6k if I am lucky.

Weather is supposed to be rain next week and that would be as soon I could touch it. So looks like another few weeks of the car sitting around. Any other ideas? The only thing that may have caught my eye is in the second video. Watch the pressure gauge as I turn the car off. Going to have my brother do that in his 95 camaro with a 97 dash. Curious if it could mean anything in the way it drops, stops, drops again, stops. Something tells me no.

Video #1 Zero oil at the lifters. Ignore my crappy starter.



Video #2 Shut down video watch oil pressure gauge.


Picture of cardboard after 2 minutes of running. I know the cardboard should be pretty wet by now.

 

Wow, that is bone dry.

I'm surprised I don't hear more rockers noise. I was expecting to hear the noise that this rocker makes when the guy in the video loosens up the rocker with the ratchet.


Your pro mags sound like mine....and you can hear mine here...around the 10 second mark.

I think a full inspection of the lifter oil gallery passages under the #5 cam bearing is where I'd start. Along with the gallery passages themselves. Were all the oil galleries rifle brushed and inspected last tear down?

After going through the oil filter, the oil is pumped up to the top of the block, then to the center main oil gallery at the #5 cam bearing. Oil goes out the length of the center gallery to lube the cam, mains, and crank. What goes around the outside of the #5 cam bearing is how each of the lifter galleries get oil pressure.

Something may be clogging the lifter galleries at that point. However I find it hard to believe that the lifter galleries are not getting oil with the way the rockers sound. When my brother's 3800 series II had no oil pressure, that thing was making all kinds of lifter/rocker noise......

I suppose something could be blocking oil in the lifter cups themselves....but to have all 16 like that would be really bad luck. Surely the factory didn't forget to drill holes in the center of the lifter cups where the pushrods sit. Carefully inspect the lifters.

Another thing to check is to make sure that the pushrods are not clogged...that would be bad luck too.

 

You can just use the 3 stock extended bolts (IIRC Miloden makes them also)and use the 1/8" washers like in the pic I posted. You then can run a stock windage tray with your stock pan. Far cheaper than going with a aftermarket pan/windage tray/pump pick-up

It is possible that with the use the motor has already been through, there "may" be existing bearing damage due to repeated oil foaming which will cause low oil pressure.

Installing the windage tray will take oil foaming out of the equation

another thing to check if you haven't is the oil pimp drive gear and drive shaft colar

 

Any kind of fastener change after the machine work is done can shift the clearances.

I wanted to do ARP bolts on my bottom end(with no machining), but the clearances opened up to an unacceptable range for me. If I recall, they opened up an additional 0.001" compared to the stock bolts. No doubt the ARPs are better....but I just could not risk the clearances changing so much...so I stayed with the stock bolts.

So if a fastener change is made, be sure to measure the clearances afterwards.

 

I figured I would hear the same as well. There must be some oil left when I wet them down before the test drive. They sound just like your cars rockers in your video.

These were used lifters from another engine. Budget is tight and these had less than 2k on them. They worked beautifully in the last motor. I cleaned them and let them bleed. I think the moral lifters were having the same problem. Pretty sure its not a lifter problem as when I changed these out the heads were dry as well. Pushrods were checks and I could see down every single one.

I want to tear the engine down some and pull the camshaft. More gaskets anybody I thought I just bought these.....Could be windage could be the cam. Also I just did a bottom end bearing job. I did not tear the engine all the way down. We had a thrust bearing issue and figured that was the problem. So the rods,pistons,heads all stayed on the block. So no cleaning of the passages were done. Looks like I screwed myself again.

If the engine gets torn down this block is going in the trash. It had a crack on the back that was fixed. Now I will be using my factory block that is setup for an arp stud kit. Hello Windage and hello what was a working block till the head gasket failed and then a cylinder filled with water.


Those bolts are actually studs. I don't have any factory ones laying around. So that would mean a line hone on this block which also means a full tear town. At that point its cheaper to use my other block. I would still have it cleaned and all parts inspected. But at this point the budget does not allow that.

Oil pump drive gear was a metal one and in great shape. Other than light color wear is was good to go. Looks like the one in my other engine.

Why I will not be converting to studs. My old block shifted .002 and was out of round. Machine shop said it was one of the worst ones he had seen shift. Still cleaned up just fine but why changing hardware this late in the game on that block is a bad idea.


Looks like a full rebuild is what is needed next. Looks like the car goes back to rusting away....I really need to pull the windsheild and fix the rust as its now leaking into the car. Stupid first car love.

 

Didya swap in a ls yet........lol

 

Nope tore down the engine to find the #5 cam bearing was spun. Lost enthusiasm. So finishing out school and just debating a full part out to save burning more cash into this car.