I have a 57 Tbird 312 ,  the engine was rebuild before I purchased it and I assembled the heads and intake
,   when I prime the oil pump via the distributor i get back pressure and no oil to the heads.  .. has oil to the filter, oil sending unit .. Pulled the heads off, checked timing chain bolts to make not to long..    can anyone point me in the right direction ..

Thanks
George   

could be the cam,some have holes that meter the oil to rockers,as engine turns over holes ile up and shot of oil goes to1 bank,then as engine turns farther other sid gets oil. or the other type hes a grove and oil flowes all te time. last and abig isue is cam bearing installed in corectleyblocking flow.hope it is first holed cam.

Thanks,  I turn the engine over to see if I can get the oil going.  If not I guess i need to pull the cam...   can I remove the cam without pulling the motor ?/



Thanks again for your help

George 

Only if you can figure out a way to hold all 16 lifters up in their bores since they have to be installed before the camshaft from the bottom.  Joe-JDC.

JDC

Can you confirm the engine was actually rebuilt? Are the holes coming up to the heads clear? If not, unfortunatly you'll be better off  to pull the engine out & have it checked out for improper bearing installation etc.. Good luck 


Paul

Are the  rocker assemblies assembled correctly?



Lawrenceville, GA

There are two cam designs in regards to oiling; the cams with the grooved center journal and the cams with the cross-drilled center journal.  The cross-drilled camshafts must have the oil holes in the cam and the bearing aligned before oil will reach the top of the engine.  With these cams it’s only one cylinder head at a time that oils.  The grooved journal cams are prone to losing oil supply to the top end if the bearings are of the softer than stock material.  These softer cam bearings simply conforms to the groove in the journal thus shutting off the oil supply.  In these cases, either the center bearing needs to be replaced, the groove in the camshaft made deeper, or some other modification made in which to restore the oil supply to the top of the engine.
 
Using sixteen spring loaded clothes pins will hold the lifters up while the camshaft is being removed from an upright positioned engine.
 
As Charlie brings up, the rocker shafts must be installed correctly to get the oil from the head into the shaft.  If you’re looking for oil from the heads with the rockers removed, then the rocker shaft orientation is not your problem at this point.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)