Gang, I got the stock engine (the one I removed from my stock car), dismantled completely down to the short block last night. I was curious as to what was causing the oil pressure loss I was registering when I took the car off the road a few months ago. Here is what we found, the stock organic headgasket could not handle on the drivers side, and we lifted the head and blew the headgasket. There was oil all over the gasket, when we got the head off, while the other side was totally clean. Also, the head on the drivers side had signs of heating up due to the color on the inside of the head, while the head on the passenger side looked almost brand new. The pistons looked fine and the ring lands were worn, but the condition of the block was in pretty good condition, especially considering that the engine had 120 k miles on it. Nothing a little machining would not totally repair.
I am still curious if the oil pump went bad, as we did not look at it, and when I took the car off the road, the Autometer oil pressure gauge I added showed normal oil pressure when the car was cold. After approximately 15 minutes or so of idle, the oil pressure started to drop, according to the gauge, and showed zero oil pressure. I obviously refused to drive it at that point. I cannot see that the blown headgasket was causing this level of oil pressure drop, but maybe. I am more suspicious of the oil pump or the gauge itself.
What are your thoughts, gentlemen?
Thanks,
Ryan