Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Guys, it’s common for racers with SBC combos in stock Eliminator to run more than 5 quarts of oil....this is how they combat the AHFS....

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

The old lifters put very little oil to the rocker, these are like a flood at the rocker. I could tell a huge difference when just pre lubing. I've been told restrictors drilled to .0120 for EDM lifters and it will be easy to swap them if necessary without opening the engine up.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

And... it's a 6qt pan with a 1qt filter with 6qts total, not really so much over filled. I do however think optimum is lower than 6.
For camparison, here is the pan with just under 4qts and the pan with 5 1/2qts. How much HP is here, I haven't got to experiment with, but I will.
https://i.imgur.com/tGxH56x.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/RZlmx9i.jpg

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I had a '69 Nova back in the 90's......G/SA and H/SA

It was a dog.....I bought it turnkey and it was used up...Venolia pistons and way to loose.....

I redid the engine as cheaply as possible with TRW pistons......all old tech stuff , fat rings, old Lunati cam and lifters, STOCK heads and intake. Notice the caps, LOL.....It ran 11.80's at G weight….with a Powerglide…..

One day just for kicks I drained a quart of oil and it made ZERO difference. It had a stock pan on it and I think I put 5-6 in it total.

Cast crank, stock rods......gm block... +.040

That engine just could not pull much past 6800 with that cam and lifters and springs.....

Since you want to keep those EDM'ed lifters and can't fix the lifter bores, you have to try the restrictors...….I used them many times and drilled them out.

The higher oil level in the second picture might have been getting whipped up some by the crank.....

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I am by no means an expert engine builder but I would also be very concerned about the uneven wear pattern on the bearings. I've seen rebuilds that have had a considerable amount of taper in bearing clearance on all of the rods, which could seemingly only be caused by taper in the crank journal, the rod bore, or the bearings themselves. Just a thought.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

What would Tony Fiel do?

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Tony Feil ?
A Really lame post right there no matter what your point is.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

I suppose that depends on your interpretation , but come to think about it, Tony would restrict the oil to the top end of all my solid lifter SS SBC's , 40 years ago.You DO remember that?

In my opinion, here we have we have a stack up of problems causing oil starvation.
Solid lifters with lash, EDM hole in lifter, groove(?) cut down to the cam, middle valley holes raised, (not a bad thing in itself) pick up 1/2 " off the floor of pan, stationary engine on dyno, (again, not a problem in itself) , but it is what it is now, as the pictures illustrate.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Well since I worked at Tony’s going back to 1966 and for Tony’s former first employee for over 10 years ....
Yes back then it was common practice to tap the 2 side passages under the rear cam bearing and install drilled Allen set screws. It was the preferred method over the screw in the back types.

But we already discussed restricting the oil passages and WTH does Tony have to do with any of this. Nothing and he’s gone so let him RIP

My only point in posting occasionally is maybe to offer some help or make a suggestion from what I see and read.

Re: H-I-J '76 Nova re-fit.
 

Took a picture while I was there today.
https://i.imgur.com/SmePYHW.jpg