Friend at work needs help with 68 Coronet R/T

[dusterrcr]

Just about anyone who wants to talk MOPARS or has a problem with one at work eventually gets led to me.this weeks mission:A guy came to me with a 68 Coronet R/T 440/auto/8-3/4 he has had the car about 30 yrs! SEVERAL years ago he pulled the motor and had it rebuilt.for some reason he only recently put it back in.He now has 3 problems doesnt run as good as it used to,gets hot,has low oil pressure.I first saw and drove the car today.engine looks as though someone did a nice job everything put back in its right place,and it runs smooth and quite.the car would turn sideways and boil the tires from a standing start,but was a little doggy from a 35 mph punch. pulled the (original)breather and found a little 600 cfm vac sec holley.the rod from the secondary diagphram was fouling on the intake and would not allow the secondary to open at all,one problem solved! the overheating did not seem too bad but he assured me the longer you drive it the hotter it gets,I think it may be a little lean and a little tight it has a 180 deg thermostat also maybe a wee too much advance.the one im worried about is low oil pressure i assume the builder put a new pump on it,it also has a new sending unit connected to the factory elec guage in the dash.could the sending unit be the wrong one? what part # should be on it? I told him the only way to be sure is to go with a mech guage,but he wants the one in the dash to work and i dont blame him--tick-tock tach works too! thanks guys --------the worlds still a toy if you just stay a boy!

[hemigtx]

I think you're on the right track. I am always amazed how the factory gauges will work for years and then one day up and quit. How about just attaching a temporary gauge to the block and reading it directly off the engine? At least you know what you're dealing with. Also, because it's a big block, it's fairly easy to slap on a high volume pump...