Low oil pressure

[65Fury440]

I have had a couple stock big blocks that partially plugged the pickup with nylon timing gear material.
By removing the oil pump, and blowing compressed air backward through the oil pickup, cleared the face enough to bring the volume up until it eventually plugged again.
Not saying this is your problem, but, something to consider.

 

[Rapidtrans777]

I've gotta do motor mounts so I'm gonna pull the pan and check that out while I have the engine loose.

 

[FURYGT]

I've gotta do motor mounts so I'm gonna pull the pan and check that out while I have the engine loose.

If you are doing motor mounts go with the Schumacher mounts or something similar and don't even bother with the solid rubber made in China mounts.

 

[GG-1]

I just got a case of Wix oil filters at Summit for 67.92 (5.66 each) free 2 day shipping.

 

[fury fan]

Keep in mind that the factory OP switches for the idiot lights are around 7PSI, and those are located at a gallery above the crankshaft.
So while other brand-X engines are reading OP right at the pump or filter outlet, we are reading it at the end of the trail, which is better.

Engine temperature affects oil pressure:
I had an experience with a high-mileage engine (318 with 180k) that had blocked heat passages in the heads, so the intake would always stay cold and cause poor atomization and would run rough. I went from a 180 to 195 T-stat to get the engine to run hotter (it did, and it helped) but then at stoplights when warmed up my OP light would flicker.

 

[fury fan]

I've gotta do motor mounts so I'm gonna pull the pan and check that out while I have the engine loose.

I've not done that in-car but suspect that will snowball to installing/disconnecting lots of things to get clearance to get the pan out. Steering centerlink for sure.

You can check your timing chain by turning the engine back/forth with a breaker bar on the crank pulley, and watching how responsive your distributor rotor is. If it's a tight chain maybe it's been replaced, but you won't know for sure when, or what type (did dealer techs replace nylon gears with new nylon gears back in the day?). But I would bet that a tight chain means no longer a nylon gear.

You won't know if there's any nylon in the pan, though.

You can then remove the fuel pump and funnel-pour some kerosene or mineral spirits into the oilpan via the slotted hole (with the drain plug out) and try to rinse any debris out that way. Do that with front end of car elevated, of course, and pour it in as fast as you can - you don't want a lazy trickle down the pan, you want a vigorous flush. (I have done this on a few engines and those always seemed to keep their engine oil cleaner longer, too.)

 

[Henrique]

I know it is an old thread, but just had the same concerns on my 66 Polara that I just bought. The car has a 383 that sounds healthy, however, the oil pressure hot at idle was around 12 psi and around 40 psi cruising. I removed the 15/16 bolt that holds the oil pump pressure regulator and put 5 small shims to increase the tension in the spring. Now it has around 15-18 psi hot at idle and around 50 psi cruising. So I guess that helped. Will try to increase even more the tension to get the pressure around 20 psi at idle.