oil pan

Good questions! A nylon coating is only on 2V aluminum cam gears which are truck parts & are NOT recommended in Pantera motors! I suggest a True-roller double-row chain drive which takes its own sprockets that have no plastic coatings. These assemblies will last much longer than a stock silent-chain.
Q-2:This is Smokey Yunick's theory of "Weak-link-engineering", where you strap up a weak spot in a modified engine, and the next-weakest link promptly appears. You keep fixing weak pointss until you run out of problems or money to fix 'em... The Ford pump is excellent (the very type of pump ise used in Indy-car dry-sump oiling). Once the pin is fixed AND the driveshaft is replaced, thats it for pump problems. Incidently, a stock pump is recommended- not a hi-volume nor a high-pressure, just a stock pump. The fact that a Ford will continue to run with a busted or seized oil pump is not usually a problem with street guys, especially if they occasionally look at their oil pressure gauge, but if it bothers you, there are kill-switches available that are based on oil pressure. When the pressure drops below some preset point, the ignition is shut off. Bearing failure does not occur instantly with pump failure except at high revs & high loads. Look in Jegs drag-race section.