engine update - oil pressure

dougson

I got the head checked out, bought a new gasket, and it's bolted on, 85 ft-lbs. Everything improving but still get a little moisture through a few studs. I'm running some BAR gasket stop-leak through coolant to try and seal them. Have good vacuum and carbs are working well (so far). Finally got thermostatic fan to work properly. One issue is low oil pressure. What should I expect? The book says "40 lbs at 30 mph". I believe I'm getting between 15 and 20 lbs at 1000 rpm. I am using the original oil pump which I checked for tolerances and all appeared to be within spec. The oil is 5W 30 high zinc for break in. Should I rebuild it anyway?

[Deleted User]

What year is you block?

Randy

[Deleted User]

What year is your block?

Randy

dougson

It is a '56

53jetman

Get rid of the 5W-30 and use at the very least 10W-40. You must realize that when these engines were engineered multi-viscosity motor oils had not been dreamed up. If everything is set up correctly you should be able to see at least 35 to 40 lb. at equivalent of 30 MPH.

Jerry

[Deleted User]

I'll tell you what I think has happen. When you assembled the motor you either used the early oiler that bolts up in the middle of the chain to oil the chain or if you used the right setup with the rubber bumper & oiler you left out the the bolt that goes right in the oil gallery. Pull the balancer and front cover off & check. 5-30 oil is okay. You mains will be okay but your rod bearings may be scuffed a but buy the low pressure.

Randy

[Deleted User]

Yes, Hudson had another "trough" setup that included a rubber snubber that required two bolts to hold it place with one of the bolts threaded into the oil gallery. Some have used the early style "trough" and did not plug the hole and there goes your oil pressure.

Randy

[Deleted User]

The trough style came in 55 and 56. Can be used on all engines from 48 to 54, like stated, you had to drill a hole into the oil gallery and use a short bolt. If you want to see if that bolt is missing, remove the front valve cover, start engine and see if oil is pouring out the big hole at the front. Walt.

dougson

The oiler in front is a trough and it was reassembled as it was disassembled, but I'll check. I hooked up a capillary (mechanical) oil gauge at the pipe where the electronic sender was mounted and the oil pressure is 31-34 lbs. So the electrical gauge is 25 (it got a little higher) and the mechanical is 32 at 1000rpm. I have an intermittent noisy lifter (hydraulic) after warmup, but probably oil pressure related. I ordered an oil pump rebuild kit. We'll see.

[Deleted User]

Hudson had to recall all the noisy hydraulic lifters and remove them as well as the camshaft. Solids are the way to go. Walt.

dougson

walts garage-53 wrote:

Hudson had to recall all the noisy hydraulic lifters and remove them as well as the camshaft. Solids are the way to go. Walt.

The hydraulic lifters were only used in '56 AMC "Hudsons" and are like the MOPAR (anyway MOPAR hydraulics work in the engine). The camshaft is the original '56 "7X flat top" and the lobes were all checked for wear and appeared to be ok. I'll hope the noise goes away once I can start actually driving the car.