All of your messages helped alot, and I finally found the problem and am driving Bonny again. If you ever talk to another MORON like me, that has tried absolutely everything to get oil pressure and can't, tell him to PUT THE PRESSURE VALVE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SPRING!

Now that I got it running and I spent all that time trying to crank/run it with no oil pressure, my oil pressure drops into the red when it gets hot enough. I know, I probably hurt the main bearings, but is there an easy additive to help this? Currantly running 10w40 Castrol GTX. (3rd oil change since starting this whole thing )

Thanks for all the past and future help, Mike

Ya know, when I was putting my oil pump in, I couldn;t remember which side of the spring the valve went on. I consulted the manual to find out, but for the life of me, still can;t figure out how it works. Still doubtful, I was wondering if I was in fact correct. Was also wondering what would happen if it was on the other side of the spring. Now I know! And I am reassured that mine is assembled correctly. Thanks a million and sorry for the luck. Glad you figured it out though.

Put a mechanical gauge on it temporarily. If you have 15-20 pounds of pressure with a warm engine, you're OK.

any less, count on doing the job again before long.

You might also want to change the oil, save the filter, and cut it apart with a hacksaw to see if there'* any bearing material in the filter.

Having the spring mounted incoreectly for so long could have also damaged it. It could have lost tension, and when it warms up, it will even loose more. That is why I suggested that you replace the spring with a better quality industrial spring.

Yea run 20w-50 all year around

Glad you figured it out! Way to go. And thank you very much for letting us all know what it was!. Your have saved a lot of people from the same problem..

Funny how a little thing like orientation can make a huge difference. Many years ago, I bought a Triumph Stag that a guy had just rebuilt beautifully. Oil pressure started to drop as soon as I got it on the highway. Got halfway home (about 200 miles) and thought I heard a knock. By the time I got home I had a rod knocking. The guy had installed a thrust bearing backwards blocking the oil passage to a rod journal. I lost $1000 on that ride. But I never forgot.

Until you can afford to replace the bearings or the engine, try 15W-40 with a can of STP. If that doesn't keep you out of the red, try straight 50 weight. If that doesn't do it, you're gonna need to do those bearings. Good Luck, and thanks again for the epilogue.

Thanks for the replies, I think I'll try Lucas additive. Since I posted last, she dosen't drop all the way to the red so I'm not that worried about it. Won't even worry about replacing the spring yet, just hope nothing else happens.
Thanks again, Mike

My wife'* previous Grand Prix was an 88 with a 2.3L V6 with 144,000 miles on it when we bought it. After a couple years the oil pressure would dip down when the engine got warm, and essentially acted like a tach, going up and down with engine speed. We ran 20W-50 in it, and it ran just fine for a couple years, until it blew head gaskets, at which point I had the engine and transaxle replaced with brand new ones. I'd advocate 20W-50.