Agree with Meansam...you've starved something critical. You didn't mention if you were running the bypass filter, but if you didn't prefill it prior to cranking, it could be your culprit, diverting just enough oil to the filter/housing (path of least resistance) to starve the bearings.

I recently plugged the 2 bypass filter lines and was amazed at how much more oil pressure was noted in the main oil gallery. Makes me question the rationale for running this type filter on a high mileage engine. Think I'd rather forego the pressure-robbing filter, and just change the oil more frequently.

In addition, priming the carb "6 or 8 times" didn't help the top end of your rebuild or add any life to your cam/lifters with 20-30 seconds running times.

Sure hope I'm wrong (for your sake) but you won't know until you pull a cap, and even if you don't find any damage down in the lower end there are cam bearings up above that can't be as easily checked. I know this isn't going to help you with your problem, but it might explain how it all came about.

Dave

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