[WakelessFoil]

I adjusted the valves on my '62 221 V8 and it runs pretty well now. Put new valve cover gaskets and change the oil. Everything seems okay (with the exception of the valve covers slowly leaking) but a bigger problem could be lingering just over the horizon...

Oil pressure...

Before I even got this car home it was running at about 30 psi on the highway doing 50 mph. After all the service we did on the car, it ran at about 50 psi on cold start. But as I was coming home from a joy ride earlier I saw the gauge drop down to 10 psi at idle! I let the car sit for 30 minutes and after that it started at about 23 psi at idle. I guess my question is, what is a normal safe oil pressure and could the 10 psi anomaly be a sign of trouble? I have suspicion that when I adjusted the rocker arms I loosened a lot of grime and carbon and that could be clogging the sump pump, or maybe the slow valve cover leak is the culprit?

 

[extech]

valve cover leak has nothing to do with it unless level gets too low. 10 psi at 1000 rpm is normal. if your idle is less,all the better

 

[galaxiex]

10 psi per 1000 rpm is the “normal” rule of thumb.

 

[taylorteam]

10 psi per 1000 to 3500/4000 on a stock application is like has been said normal, heat plays a big part in lowering oil pressure, if yoy see less than 10 at idle 800 to 1000 rpm you may want to look at a thicker high milage synthetic oil, the synthetic handle heat better, and to answer your question on the valve adjustment, you oil pressure is taken before it runs through the valve train, to get higher oil pressure easily is to use thicker synthetic, the other way to get high oil pressure is doing alot of heavy engine work up to including a rebuild where you need to be super anal on assembly.