this is a fresh .040 engine. the builder i know and have known for roughly 20+ years and have installed his engines before and have had no issues. the gauge is the same as from when the 307 was in the car and its a mechanical gauge.
the pump was used., but was told it was ok. mind you, i mentioned above the cold and hot pressures all at idle in gear and what the pressure rise was at cruise...
the one thing that i did notice was about the front galley plugs, which in all honesty, i thought were all there and the guy who assembled it told me he cleaned out all the oil galleys and always replaces with new on assembly, and usually rechecks all his work with a fine tooth comb so to speak. as far as clearance, i didnt check that because like a said this was a pre-assembled short block that was built .040 and given to me when ownership changed hands from the machine shop that it used to be to a transmission shop that i was shop foreman for. a stock oem pump is only 20 bucks, its gonna have to wait till the money starts coming back in, and for that matter the car can sit till then or till i get my taxes done because, at that time im also going to be putting in new diff gears and a lock-right locker setup to use it for drag racing. the motor with a stock cam still screams and with the 700r4 i built for it is an amazing difference from the old stock 307/th350 combo it used to have and at that time with the car having 3.08 gears still ran consistent 10.00's and has run a best of 9.88 in the 8th mile. and the only things on the 307 was a factory aluminum intake, same hei thats in the 350 now, and a jegster header-back exhaust kit i bought when i saw how chocked up the 307 was with the factory exhaust.
im not looking to go any quicker than low 8's in the 8th, cause if i break into the 7's, i gotta put a cage in and i dont want to do that and i still want to keep the car streetable to a degree.
1 of the reasons i built the 700r4 for it. and yes its pretty damn stout and will hold, and i got rid of lockup so theres 1 less thing to fail ( ive had a 700r4 built the same in my 76 with a inline 6 that my dad and i put together in 1996). it works flawlessly and has over 150,000 miles on it since then and, with no lockup, i have absolutely no sediment in the pan on services like i normally see on 700's with lockup.
anyway, i hope you can see that im quite particular about how i do things, and try to take the most care in what i do to ensure that what i have lasts.
again, i still appreciate all the comments and suggestions, thats why i still come around here. its been a great site to help and be helped with on my own problems. cheers! :thumbup:
p.s.
when i do pull the motor back out i will be checking clearances and everything else just to be sure, you can count on that.