SO the mystery of my little motor deepens.
after going to a buddy's house to show him the v8, and he pointed out that even with the 20-50 racing oil I have in it, 70psi of oil pressure at Idle is not normal for a stock 318. at full tilt, it has 80-90psi. methinks this thing has been rebuilt at one point with a cam and a high volume oil pump. AT LEAST. I am going to try and borrow my friends bore-o-scope to see if the pistons have a bore stamp on them.