HELP: I am lost !

[Chuck L.]

Oil should be flowing up the pushrods and spilling onto the rockers... I did not see any signs of this in the video.

yep.
when this engine was rebuilt, did you install the barbell in the rear oil galley??
Are you SURE:
A. The o'ring on the pickup tube is not damaged?
B. Are you sure you used the correct ring? [They are application sensitive.]

[Lennart]

yep.
when this engine was rebuilt, did you install the barbell in the rear oil galley??
Are you SURE:
A. The o'ring on the pickup tube is not damaged?
B. Are you sure you used the correct ring? [They are application sensitive.]

O-ring is not damaged as I installed it with the engine on the stand upside down.
I did install the o-ring that came with the pump, which is the wrong one !
Looked up the part numbers I need to use the 12584922 and the one that came with the pump is 12557752.
I used the LS6 pump.
On the other hand I do have 40psi of oil pressure after startup, increasing as revs go up (never went above 2000rpm so far).
Is there any possibility oil flow is restricted to the pass side?

[ChipsByAl]

Does this engine still have the catalytic converters? I have had one side very restricted causing this condition. Do an exhaust backpressure test from each of the front O2 sensors and see if one side is clogged.
Al

[joecar]

O-ring is not damaged as I installed it with the engine on the stand upside down.
I did install the o-ring that came with the pump, which is the wrong one !
Looked up the part numbers I need to use the 12584922 and the one that came with the pump is 12557752.
I used the LS6 pump.
On the other hand I do have 40psi of oil pressure after startup, increasing as revs go up (never went above 2000rpm so far).
Is there any possibility oil flow is restricted to the pass side?

Lennart, look at attached diagram...

The colored areas are potential leak points (internal to engine)... also the lifters are potential leak points.

Lifters and pushrods can also possibly be clogged/dirty.

The lifters allow oil to travel up the pushrods and to arrive at the rockers...

[Lennart]

Thanks for the diagram, good to have.
This weekend I will be double checking the lifters, compare oil flow on a known good motor and do a compression test.
In the meantime I have ordered a set new lifters and timing chain along with head gaskets.
The catalytic converters are still in the car, what kind of back pressure is normal?

EDIT: Never mind found it, the max. pressure is 0.5 psi (3.4kPa)

[joecar]

On the bank that makes no noise (driver side), do you see oil coming out at the top of the pushrods...?

[Lennart]

Does this engine still have the catalytic converters? I have had one side very restricted causing this condition. Do an exhaust backpressure test from each of the front O2 sensors and see if one side is clogged.
Al

This is it !
Openend up the exhaust at the manifold to see if the converter is plugged. Engine ran a lot smoother but the noise made it difficult to detect any other sounds.
Anyway, tightened the cat back on, same as before. Then pulled the cats --no fun--
and saw this:

[joecar]

Which side was that...?

[Lennart]

That was the passenger side. The drivers side seems to be OK, not sure if I should replace both cats or just one.

[Lennart]

Her is a pic of the plugs, passenger side is top.