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I run both the indicator light and a mechanical gauge for oil pressure. At idle when the issue occurs I am at 30 lbs, which actually seems high to me. Under acceleration I get to between 35 and 38. But the gauge is under the hood, so that is accelerating under no load, and I really don't hold the RPMs high for any length of time. Probably if I had it inside where I could see it under constant speed, it would go up a little more. Oil pressure just does not seem like the issue.

I did start this project because I had a slight tick after the car would fully heat up. Not really enough to worry about, and hard to hear with the hood closed, but it bothered me. I should have learned to live with it.

After putting everything back together, there was no noise and the car definitely got hotter than it had prior to the project, but also definitely never overheated. No issues (no lifter noise) for several weeks tracking down the running hot issue, which repeated flushing seems to have cured. But the lifter noise appeared very loudly and very suddenly after a long drive several weeks ago, after the hot running issue was solved. Given this, does it seem likely that I would have a drop in oil pressure to cause this?

I am running a regular oil filter and replaced the element when I put in new oil after doing all the other work. I have not actually tried to by-pass this or check the pressure at that block where the oil goes in from the filter. This is different from where the gauge and the light connect. As I recall it, the oil flows out the bottom of the canister and into the engine low in front of the distributor. Maybe I should try a gauge there, where it goes into the block? There seems to be tons of oil in the valve galleys when I run this with the covers off - oil goes everywhere, but I guess the pressure could be restricted there and still show good pressure at the gauge.?

My Packard guy in So Cal has told me how to test these units, but none seem to test at temperature. I will contact the vendor to see if they can help. Good suggestion which is probably obvious to everyone here but me.