I used the standard volume oil pump kit with the booster plate. I also have the adjustable regulator. Side gear clearance was .0025 if I recall. I've ALWAYS had great oil pressure, since I installed the plugs. I don't think a lack of oil pressure was the issue. I think it was just beating the piss out of a mostly stock motor with a stock bottom end, just had new bearings. Multiple times I'd be at WOT, and I mean WOT, straight to the floor, for MINUTES at a time. 4800rpm and climbing, albeit slowly. My math tells me I was doing 130ish. The car pooted out some blue smoke so I think that was related to the black scuff/combustion marks on #8 (pictured up there).
New bearings require no break in, as I have posted before driving a car hard will not harm the bearings. It will harm the valve train and you can cause a valve to drop but you won't destroy a bearing. If your car did not overheat when driving it rough then the oil did not overheat as well so the lubrication of the bearing would have been adequate unless there was an issue with the oiling system. With the bearing been spun that does not allow you to see if there was dirt that caused that bearing to fail. The #8 rod is bent which may have been bent when you put the engine back together. Did you check the bearings that were in the engine when you tore it down?. I always inspect the bearings when I tear down an engine, they tell you alot about how the engine was working