[pistonbroke]

Cameron I may be wrong but I was told here on the barn that 8ba's had 80 psi systems from the start so if that's true your 40 or 50 psi on a fresh engine would indicate a problem from the start to me. God forbid but I have seen the galley tube fail on a 8ba and that could cause a similar problem but you would still see oil at the port in the back of the block I would think. How long did you crank on it with the gauge out? With the system open to air the oil would drain back down and with the gear reduction it would take a bit of cranking to get oil up again. Tim