Aluminum Oil Pumps - Stock vs. Something Else?

My latest project has brought me to a bit of a crossroads (one of many) due to problems with part availability.  That being said, I must also face some old dogma about OEM Ford oil pumps that I must now face, reconcile and act upon!  

For as long as I have been building and testing Ford engines,  I have tossed several OEM pieces right in the scrap dumpster without even giving it a thought.  I am now at an age and level of experience where I must now examine "WHY!" Today's subject......the OEM Aluminum Oil Pump on 351 Windsor.  



Yea, I know lots of Ford engines use them, but today, I am working on a Windsor that is a practically new TFI IV roller cam engine for an 86 F250 that is being built to go into an 85 F150. It got a hone job, rings, bearings, a "torque" cam, duel plane aluminum performer intake and a set of FloTek 180 cc intake runner aluminum heads.  The timing cover and oil pump had to be changed to accommodate the V belt set up, but I am just going to put the stock 96 oil pan on it and cram it into the 85.

Initially, I was going to just toss the stock aluminum oil pump and replace it with a Melling Select standard volume pump.  I am finding that my normal parts sources have plenty of high volume Melling Select pumps on hand, but no one has a standard volume unit on the shelf!  Everyone on line SAYS they have it, but when you try to order it, no dice!  I wont use a high volume oil pump in an engine like this, because experience has taught me that:

HV oil pumps on a 5 quart oil pan is just a bad idea!  I genuinely have never seen someone empty an oil pan in a tow rig, but...........................

Ford oil pumps are, after it is all said and done, driven by a tiny little roll pin that holds the tiny little distributor drive gear to the distributor shaft.  I do not know how many of these I have seen sheer that pin, break that gear or just grind that gear's teeth into nothing with high volume oil pumps!

Today, I have to wonder, why am I so quick to toss this almost new aluminum oil pump in the scrap bin?  I took it apart, its a pretty nice piece!  It is lightweight, sturdy, and every time I have rebuilt a Windsor, NOTHING that was EVER wrong with ANY of those high mileage engines were because of a stock oil pump failure! I have seen PLENTY of cast iron Melling pumps fail (pieces of casting breaking off inside and jamming up in the gerotors, bypass valve sticking, housing breaking off, etc.) but have NEVER seen a stock aluminum pump fail!  I have taken, literally, hundreds of these things off of engines and NEVER even considered replacing one with another stock aluminum piece!  

I guess I just figured they were too expensive and could not justify the cost but never considered it from a performance or longevity standpoint!  At least the cost thing makes sense as they are costly! However,  if I have a free one....why not run it?  

So does anyone out here know something about these pumps that I don't?  A lot of dredging the internet has provided me with bupkis in the form of real feedback from a reliable source on these OEM units, so I figured I would reach out to you folks.  What do you think?  What has been your experience?

I've not read about any of the engines with them having oil pump trouble.  Or even oiling system trouble.  I'd put it back on.

And I agree about the high-volume pump - don't do it.

it's a subject I have considered many times. I have reinstalled quite a few and have not had a pump fail yet. in fact, I save every one I can.  I just did a quick service on a 351m two weeks ago due to it losing oil pressure once at operating temp. I pulled it and replaced all crank bearings and seals, timing chain and freeze plugs and reinstalled the oil pump. yes, this one is cast iron but the point is that I disassemble any and every oil pump I may use and decide based on that whether it gets used or not. the aluminum ones have worked very well. another point about the hv models. they are taller! I have seen pans with a little bolt shaped dent poking out a couple times and one that leaked and that got my attention also.