Please know that I have serched and serched and searched and the questions below stem from being even more confused after searching.

Fyi, I'm cannibalizing my stock mkIV 330hp 454 for what ever externals I can use on my 498 stroker build. I'll lay this out as short as I can:

-Is stock oil pan and oil pump ok? I've heard to use melling standard pump but if standard then why not stock pump?
-What size fuel pump should I use 110 or 130? Currently pump is mech off of the cam.
-I have aluminum bow tie heads- do i need special head bolts or will any manley, arp bbc head bolt kit work?
-Are the felpro 1037 the correct gasket for my app? Motor will not be blown, ever.

I've used this site to crossreference everything I hear on the street and even my machine guy and so far have come out ok. Thank you all for the knowledge and help that is passed on to the novice like myself.

I use felpro 17040 on the MKIV block. Autozone sells them for $34

I'm also finishing up a pair of 498 strokers and am going through the head bolt decision right now as well... I did read of a guy stripping the threads off a manley bolt so i won't use them. I liked using studs on my mains so i'll probably also use them on my heads... unless i get feedback otherwise.

I used the stock 6qt pan and the melling 10778c. I didn't have any issues at 6krpm at dyno, and I don't expect to be running around 6k, more like 5.5krpm max. I do remember having some trouble with the windage tray, but can't remember if it was because of studs or oil pump (or both).

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to go with ARP bolts. I rather use bolts in case I need to remove the heads later and don't want to remove the engine. I'm waiting to find out more on the oil pump question.

[QUOTE=ramos45;3113393]Thanks for the reply. I'm going to go with ARP bolts. I rather use bolts in case I need to remove the heads later and don't want to remove the engine. I'm waiting to find out more on the oil pump question.[/QUOTE

Just buy a new pump, Years ago it wasn't uncommon to pull the oil pump apart and inspect the gears and resuface the cover to reduce the clearance for more pressure. GM pumps are good pumps without question however I would just replace it with a high volume high presser pump. There cheap. Did you rebuild the bottom end? If so what are your rod and main clearances? Personally in my marine applications I like to set them up with a little more clearance than stock due to the cooler / thicker oil. With that said I use high volume / hi pressure pumps. Everyone has there own theory on this and I'm not 100 % sure what would be considered to be the most correct answer. LOL...

You also may have to modify your windage slightly for clearance.

Completely new bottom end and not sure about the clearances. I'll have to ask machine shop about that one. Is there a difference between the stock GM oil pump and a melling standard volume pump?

I've never had the two side by side pulled apart. GM has good pumps without question. They've been in production for many many years. Like anything else you can pull it apart and inspect the gears for wear as well as the cover. You can easily check the clearance between the gears and the cover with a feeler guage to see if there within tollerance. Rather than explaining the procedure of how to increase pressure just google it. It's really easy. All you need is a thick piece of flat glass and some fine emry and or wet sand paper. I have used stock 454/330 pumps on 500 HP upgrade engines without any problems. Also if in doubt plumb in an inexpensive mechanical guage.

There are numerous pumps available from multiple manufactures. Just don't get confused. I'm certain your GM pump will be fine. Pull it apart and inspect it if you have concerns though.