I do see the "problem" with 10 lbs of pressure at hot idle...but as soon as there's any throttle it goes up...At a cold start, the relief valve is set at around 75 psi (it stays there untill warm), so it won't blow the filter off.

The way I figured the dipstick was wrong = I found a wee little scratch mark that PERFECTLY matches 5 quarts in the pan...hmmm...common sense hopefully. I strugled with the whole oil capactiy thing for a long time...I ALWAYS put 4 in the pan and 1 in the filter, untill I got an oil pressure gauge, and realized it'd start dropping when accelerating...I put the extra quart in and bam, NEVER lost pressure. The SAE 50 was more of a test, and makes 40+ psi cold idle...but once it all warms up (190-210 degrees, sometimes more in traffic), it'll go down to 10.

I'm dealing with 100 degree plus days here on a .060 over engine with a radiator that's too small, so I'm not exactly worried about low idle pressure...everything runs low down here...I know guys with fresher motors needing to run 40 weight to avoid problems...I'm hoping to get the damn thing running for a while, eventually I'm looking at going to a 385 series motor. I've got a 1971 460 chilling in the garage...

Like I said I checked the number 3 bearing and it looked brand new...the mechanic helping me said that if one looked like that, there wasn't a need to check the others...He's been in it for 40+ years, so I listened to his explanation lol.

I didn't check the rings, but before I tore it down it wasn't smoking, so I'm hoping it'll go away soon, I checked the oil after running it yesterday, none gone, so I'm hoping it'll stay that way.