i dont think there is any benifit to be had if you doing a stock rebuild. those stock pumps go 200-300k miles with no issues, the only pressure issues are from clogging ports, lifters, worn out seals, etc. and that has nothing to do with the pump. i put a stock pump on my 400hp sbc and use 10w30, the pressure is fine hot and cold. its just about maintenance and making sure your other stuff is good

Pump type all depends on usage. Racing, Off Roading, any thing other then a mild rebuild for highway usage, you might consider pump volume & pressure. If you want to take a 1969 Camaro 302 and attempt 11,000 or a 427 and attempt 12,000+ RPM'* the stock output pump will fail you. If you do hard core off road activities stock oil pumps kill engines.

The problem with building a motor is picking the right parts, that will work in concert. Don't get a 5000 RPM stall converter for a cam that works with a stock GM converter. Do put a High volume or high pressure pump in your 100 horse over stock 350 that might see 1 drag race a year. A good new (stock GM or Aftermarket normal) pump will do, and do just fine.

Save the Gear drives for engines actually making power, not a 305 or 350 with a just above stock cam.

When I rebuilt mine I used a stock and its runs 60psi cold and 40 warm with 5w30 mobil 1 synthetic.

i put a stock one in my 150 over stock 350, that sees half a dozen or so times a year at the track, at that level its fine. there may be some benefit to a high volume pump but you really need to open up the returns and run a bigger pan. for mike who is asking the question for a pretty close to stock rebuild in a truck that already has clearance issues there is no need

What I was attempting to say: You do Not need one unless your either building a dedicated race engine, or doing sever abuse.

OK, pump is settled then. Stock.

Now that we are on the topic of rebuilding, I see a lot of kits everywhere from Jegs to Summit, to Ebay to mom-pop stores with re-ring kits. I don't want to buy a WHOLE kit, just the hard stuff not normally stocked in local Autozones and stuff. That way I can source out my gaskets and stuff locally.

Is there anything I should stay away from?

just out of curiosity why would you not want a whole kit that is designed to work together, seems to me easier and cheaper

Depending on the kit, it will usually come with the cheapest gaskets to complete the job. I'd rather use my personal preference gaskets(like the metal framed intake gaskets) instead of cheapos. See what I mean?

what is the primary purpose for the rebuild?

if you are going to bore it you would get pistons, rings, and head gaskets to match, then i think they have felpro kits for doing lim, you just need to get one valve cover gasket on some