427 side oiler-oil pressure at idle

427 side oiler, great care taken while assembling, clearances check, oil passages
opened up and matched. installed new melling high volume pump. After engine has
warmed up, pressure is less than twenty psi at idle, 900 RPM. Pulled distributor and valve covers, then
used drill to operate pump, oil gushes out
of rocker shafts. No racing clearances set in this engine.
Emailed melling and explained this problem,
their reply...characteristics of pump??!
Anyone out there have this problem/solution
Thanks....Perry

Perry....let's get some basic questions resolved first....what rocker arms are you using? Have you done any restricting to them either in the block (two passages) or in the heads between 3 &4 and 5&6 cylinders? Do you have a hydraulic or solid style camshaft? What did you use for a side oiler relief spring....did you install the threaded oil galley plug that connects to the very front lifter bore on the drivers side (#5) ? this is installed from the front of the block prior to installing the distributor? Your getting oil to the rockers so I assume you installed the side oiler cam bearings vs the regular FE cam bearings and the holes are lined up correctly?
Let's get these questions answered one at a time and then move to the next ones to help resolve what you believe to be low oil pressure....20# at idle is not necessarily low and it certainly depends on several possible factors...I assume you have a mechanical gauge too...that worked with the previous engine with different results....
George**)

George, all questions you raised have been completed/installed correctly, I have
a solid lifter cam, the relief spring and plunger are new and installed correctly.
I tapped the oil passages in the block and installed an allen plug drilled .090.
I used three different mechanical gauges with same reading.

I Went to a party last night and met a retired ford engineer, he worked on their
racing team during the sixties and seventies. I told him of my problem and he
just laughed and said all I need at idle is 6lbs of pressure!!, he said the fact
that my pressure jumps immediately is an indication that everything is fine and
not worry about it. He was the carburetor expert and worked with AJ foyt during
his ford years. Lucky I ran into him and made sure I got his phone#.


Thanks...........Perry

Perry.....you need to go to more partys....glad all is OK and you now understand FE's can run low "at idle" oil pressure....
Regards, george

Hope YOU..( and I) find what the problem is, cause I've got the same problem with my 428!
All New, lots of work done to the block. Passages opened from the pump to the filter adaptor, to the mains, and the mains matched to the Bearings! Also a HV 57 Melling pump. Comp Cams Extreme Energy Hyd. Cam Kit.. Erson Kneedle bearing rockers.. Restricted the passages in the heads at .090" to start.. LOTs of oil to the top when priming! Tried .060" and then.047".I started the motor... Never reachd 60psi and when hot below 20!! After it's hot and I start it and let it idle, it hardly gets off the 0!! only to about 10 and then only to around 15 to 20psi.. What's up HELP needed here! Ray

FE's need about 10 lb at idle to keep the stock lifters working. 20 is good, as long as it rises immediately to 45 or more by about 2000 rpm. Most people have a fixation about high oil pressure, the truth is, only the mains operate with this much, the rods make do with much less, and are under more stress.

did you install the threaded oil galley plug that connects to the very front lifter bore on the drivers side (#5) ? this is installed from the front of the block prior to installing the distributor?
If you're not sure...remove the distributor and see if the galley plug is there....you can bend a small wire at a right angle and see if it goes in that hole...if it goes in to the lifter.....you have left it out...oil leak...

George