ok so i got this formula here.....and yea when its warmed up, that needle on the dash that supposed to be oil pressure says the press about bottoms out at idle, but goes right up as soon as i give it gas. no knocking is heard under the hood, the oil was changed when i picked up the car, i drove it 400 miles back to NC and its still spotless. oil is very clean still. no ticking, knocking, and chugging at all, runs good, but the gage says its bottoming out when its warm. could this be a sending unit issue?
Ok, also, its suposed to have the 4 barrel 305 (5.0) v8, however its not setup like a 305 ive ever seen, its setup like a 350, with the AC on the drivers side (not pass liek the 305) and the alt on the pass side and single vbelts, not a serp belt. now i heard that some manufactures back in the 80's were saying the cars has smaller motors than they did (say it had a 305 and really put a 350 in it) to get around some federal regs and taxes and stuff. is this possible?
Other than that, it runs good, ive got a rattle in the exhaust to fix, i assume cat is clogged cuz the car is very very very quiet and feels like is starving to exhale its gasoline burning emissions :-) but yea, runs good nonetheless. anybody got any ideas?

 

Change the oil pressure sending unit, they are notorious for going belly up.

 

my 84 bird is a 305 4brrl and the a/c was on the drivers side and alt is on the passenger side, all of the 305 cars ive seen near to my year are that way. hope this helps. well at least i assume mine is a 305, i have noticed other 305 g body cars are differant than mine. oh and i dont have a serp belt eitheri had 2 belts routing around the power steering and on to the ac, plus one just for smog pump and one to the alt

 

Those stock gauges are not very accurate, they're more of a guide to know that you have oil pressure. My Autometer gauge at idle when warm will read between 7psi and 15psi, and go up to around 50psi at WOT.

I've never heard of the factory doing that, it's more likely to be a 305 if that is what you were told by the seller. You could always check the stampings on the engine.

 

im curious now, myself, where do u check that? since the 350 and 305 are identical looking

 

OK so i guess i should change out the sending unit, and if it still says its dropping out, get a aftermarket press gage to check it with. i mean if it was dropping to like less than 10 psi at idle, it prolly would ahve some kind of knock or ping or somethin right? as per the motor question, all tags indicate 305, but like i said, a friend of mine has a 89 formula with a 305 and its setup different, like the other 305's ive seen. <shrug> either way, it runs good hahaha

 

here is a great list of casting numbers as far as identifying your block goes...

http://www.mortec.com/castnum.htm

there is other good stuff on there too, check it out.

 

first of what years is urs? the 89 would be different than my 84 since its not carb and not v belts

 

The location of the accessories was not dependent upon 305 or 350. It was year-based. '82-'85 had v-belts, alternator on passenger side, AC on driver's side. '86-87 were same location, but the alternator was run by a multi-groove flat belt (like serpentine but not as long, nor did it serpentine). '88-up were serpentine with the alternator on the driver's side and AC on the passenger side.

What year is this car?

 

thanks 5-7