Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 250 no oil on rocker gear

I have a 250 which is out of a Nova which I am in the process of firing up. I bought the motor a while ago, and have just got it running, but noticed there is no oil coming out of the pushrods and dribbling down to the valve end of the rockers. I am pretty sure there should be oil visible here, while it is running. I have good oil pressure, but I am not sure about how much oil I have in the sump. I have just been caught out with a 235 which had the wrong dipstick in there, and I ended up draining the oil, and putting in the right amount according to the book. I now suspect a similar problem, but I just need to know the length of the correct dipstick. The dipstick is located just below the oil pressure switch port on the RHS of the motor. I have a 194 which I thought was the same, but that has the dipstick higher up and mounted next to the distributor.

I would start by draining the oil and change the filter. Put in 5 fresh Quarts of oil with a full size oil filter. Dipsticks are available to buy on my website.
You have to get oil to travel to the top end.

A side question- Why do you have a SBC V8 firing order in your signature?

I was about to drain the sump and add the right amount of oil, when I thought I would fire it up again just in case it would suddenly start squirting oil at the top- and it did! I normally remove the distributor and drive the oil pump with a drill to get oil up to the top, I didn't do it this time, maybe the pump needed a little help to get primed.
As for the signature, I couldn't think of anything else to put there. I have been playing with sbc's for about 40 years now, but only recently came across 250's (They are rare here in Australia).

230 and 250 engines run the same engine block and bore size- - - -the only difference is the crankshaft stroke. Flat top pistons for a Chevy 307 V8 are a direct swap for 250 pistons- - - -the only difference is that the V8 piston is a flat top. It gains about 1/2 a compression ratio over the 250 dish top piston, and there are both hypereutectic cast pistons and forged 307 pistons available without ordering expensive custom made ones. Good luck!
Jerry