Yes, the drilled plug is a good idea. Be sure to angle the hole where it squirts directly onto the gears. I'd reccomend a hole about 1/32" or so, and the top oil gallery, the one that does not supply oil to the lifters would be the one I'd choose to supply the lube to the gears. A Melling high-volume oil pump would be a good idea, but it's not absolutely necessary unless you're also running race-engine clearance on the rod and main bearings, .003" or so instead of the usual .0015". Do you plan to run hydraulic or solid valve lifters? If you're running solids, there's also a set of restrictors available to limit the amount of oil that gets pumped up to the cylinder heads. Our round track engines used to fill the valve covers with oil and starve the bearings unless we installed restrictors, and I'd enlarge the holes in them slightly to supply the low-bleed-off hydraulic lifters we ran. If you're going to be doing offroad running or round track, keeping lots of oil in the bottom end is essential!
Jerry
