Put an HV pump on it. You've got a 10 qt pan, why put a stock OE pump on it when for a little more, you can do it the right way. You've got to do the oil mods on Oldsmobiles. Put the restrictors in mains 1-4 and the HV pump with correct pick up.
These mods are minimum and negligible in cost, compared to having to go back into it again.


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Several, due to original design flaws, the success of their corrections, and the EPA vs. manufacturing design.
1- Oldsmobiles over oil the upper end via the cam lube circuits, pound in or thread in restrictors reduce this issue saving more of the volume for the mains and rods which have high bearing speeds (large journals need more oil volume)
2- The cam design is flat tappet, which is a parkerized finish (hardening), the EPA mandated zinc removal of all automotive oils due to its damaging effects on catalysts. So, no zinc, no finish protection, higher heat issues at lobe/tappet contact, more volume alone helps cool the metals, that's one of oils purposes, heat removal. So add ZDDP additive also.
This may have been the cause of your cam failure
3- Cost vs. return, minimal increase in part cost with greater gains in return, see benefits above.

Will that explanation suffice?


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Also, I did see that moroso pickup but I think it's for a dealer pan than the Milodon. Has anyone used it with the Milodon pan?

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Put an HV pump on it. You've got a 10 qt pan, why put a stock OE pump on it when for a little more, you can do it the right way. You've got to do the oil mods on Oldsmobiles. Put the restrictors in mains 1-4 and the HV pump with correct pick up.
These mods are minimum and negligible in cost, compared to having to go back into it again.


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Pressure is only restriction to flow. Clearances are paramount in in this yes, absofuckinglutely, ever found it without making them correct? They're all over the place, you're assuming they're correct and equal, think Pascals law. He had an engine failure, not a total blow out but a failure none the less, plus wear already on the bearings and journals. A Melling HV pump will assist in keeping the guts a little happier for a small increase in cost. I'm not saying put a Titan gerotor pump on it, instead of the 29.99 Advance auto special, a little more on the pump in quality and no additional work.



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Also, when 3 of the biggest names in Oldsmobile building (Joe Mondello, Bill Travato, and Dick and Andy Miller) advise it, it's probably a good idea.


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Actually, that's partially true, the problem is, it's only recommended on a highly modified oil return and restricted engine with the restrictor kit with a large capacity pan. What is missing is that it requires a larger pan, which I interpret to saying all the oil will be in the top end. This causes a few problems, one, it will get the snot whipped out of it by the crank causing foam and foamy oil gets hot as hades. This in turn thins the foamy oil until it pushes out of the breathers and the engine loses oil pressure because the pump can't deal with the foam. Not to mention the pump will be bypassing all of the time because of the restrictors. We used Roll pinned pushrods and roller rocker arms from Harland Sharp. Engine now has about 300 hours on it and can run 5k rpm for as long as you can afford the fuel....

The place he got the information from was on the build page which recommends the HV pump for drag racing builds. Last time I checked, they only run balls out for around ten seconds.. Not hours like we do. Oil temperature and foam are not normally an issue.

Using a standard pressure/standard flow pump will push much less oil to the top end preventing all the above, you will want to be very cautious on bearing clearances and oil viscosity. The oil should run in the low to mid 200's °F and typically a 40 wt oil is spot on. We ran 15w-40 and never had an issue.

No matter what, weld or braze the pick up and if it's bolted, use safety wire.

On the Milodon pan, DO NOT exceed 3/8" pick up to pan clearance, no less than 1/4". We normally weld a tab on the bottom of the pick up to prevent suck down.

Good luck. Cam break in is EVERYTHING, be sure to use the proper additives and run a quality oil.


GT