No oil to head?!

[rjteeter]

After a broken timing belt last summer I decided to throw some money
into my 87 325e head. Went with IE oversize valves, Schrick 288 degree
cam, Metric Mechanic Beehive springs, and Motronic 1.3 conversion
while retaining my stock 2.7 eta block.

After getting everything back together just recently I have found that
I am getting absolutely no oil to the head/valve train.

I pulled the oil pan and cleaned off the oil pump pickup. Checked for
problems with the pump itself but it seems to be a very simple setup
with no wear.

I appear to have oil pressure as when I pull the cap above the oil
pump drive shaft off the block I can turn the car over(remote starter)
and watch a solid, steady stream of oil build and squirt onto the oil
pump drive shaft gear.

I checked the oil return holes on the bottom/exhaust side of the head
for blockage but they are open all the way down to oil(assuming the
oil pan).

After inspection of a couple spare "e" heads I can't even figure out
what the source of the oil to the head is. The only openings I see for
oil are the drainage holes on the bottom exhaust side of the head and
the hole on the intake side going to the breather tube. Can anyone
tell me how the oil gets to the head?

Also anyone have any suggestions as to what might be starving my head
of oil?

[jlevie]

Oil flow to the head is via a passage through the block.

Hook a gauge to engine and crank it over to see if pressure is being built up. Or manually lubricate the cam and rockers and fire the engine to see what the pressure is.

[rjteeter]

Hook a gauge where? I have a auto meter gauge here but I am waiting on an adapter.

I have looked for an oil passage in the block but found nothing. Can you describe where the passage is?

How will manually oiling cam and valve train find the pressure?

[jlevie]

Hook up the pressure gauge where the oil pressure warning switch goes. You'll need an adapter to convert from the the metric threads in the block to your gauge fittings (usually 1/8NPT).

Manually oiling the cam gear is simply to prevent damage when checking the oil pressure.