Is 1 oil pump better than the others or are they pretty much same quality,  and which one is best for every day driver.

tom in iowa

54 Merc wagon

54 sunvalley

I usually buy Mellings oil pumps and have had good luck with them but they are getting expensive. Summit has a Sealed Power unit that I may try next. For a non race application I would think either would be fine.

I have always used Mellings oil pumps.FYI I bought a set of Sealed power pistons for a 350 Chev 2 months ago-the box was marked"made in china'.I sent the pistons back.I dont know who is making their pumps.

There are two different design oil pumps for the Y family of engines. The original design introduced in the early Fifties on the OHV/LYB engines (302, 317, 332, 341, 368) and adopted in 1954 for the 239/256 Y engines was the spur gear oil pump.  In mid 1956, Ford introduced the gerotor design and that design has been used on the various Ford engines since then.  For the Y, the aftermarket manufacturers have continued to make the spur gear design for the Y despite the inherit advantages of the gerotor design. Here are some links to past threads regarding the Y-Block oil pumps in general.

Blueprint specifications

Design differences

Effect on the ignition

Identifying Gerotor and spur gear pumps

Preoiling the engine

Rebuild kit for gerotor oil pump

Shimming the relief spring 

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)