First off im new to the site so first off hello and thank you for any and all help. . i just bought an 82 camaro with a 70's model 350. it ran great for close to 2 weeks. no noises in the motor, good oil pressure, and staying nice and cool (probably due to help from the weather) i changed the oil and everyone kept on telling me to use shell rotella? so i did. right before i changed the oil i noticed when running at a steady rpm it started making a pinging sound but quit if you accelerate or slow down... so i changed the oil and installed new oil pressure guage and went from there... still did the same thing. well unfortunatly i was driving it back home from work and i noticed my oil pressure was at like 7. at about 2500 rpm. i stopped and when i did it lost the rest of the pressure and died out. now when it cranks it has a slight sound in the motor. where should i even begin to look? i pulled the valve covers and checked to make sure the rocker arms wernt loose or broken and they all seemed to be fine. what should be my next step in determining what caused this? thanks, mark.

 

Sounds like your oil pump went out or maybe is clogged. Worst case is worn bearings. Might as well rebuild the bottom end at a minimum, if not the pump.