David:
Rule of thumb 10#/1000 doesnt apply to the FE, as your engine also shows. Your builder thinks the same way as mine does, old school. Your advice otherwise is spot on.
Ed:
Every HP FE I have had experience with that runs less than 60#@5000+ has had bearing problems, especially the center oiler 427 and 428's. Thats why they made the side oiler, to salvage lower end oiling shortages. The extreme
oil pressure also helps compensate for a lack of GOOD racing type rod bearings that are not available anymore. Other things to do include restrictors in the
oil feeds to the rockers, matching the oilpump/block port, and matching/smoothing the oilfilter adapter/block passages. BTW, I change rod bearings every other year, and
oil pump drive shaft and distributor gear pin yearly as a precaution due to the high loads incured with 50w racing oil and 7000rpm on a regular basis.
Don