priming oil pump

[belvedere]

I will soon (hopefully, if the weather cools down a lil!) begin assembling the 230 from my '57 Belvedere.  I've rebuilt other engines before, but this is my first flathead 6.

What is your preferred method for priming the oil pump on a fresh build?  I know there are different methods, but wondering what you guys have had the best results with on these engines.

Also, any tips specific to these engines are welcome.

Details on my engine: mostly stock rebuild, bored .030" over, crank ground, new valves & springs (and exhaust seats), cam & lifters reground by Edgy (slightly hotter grind than stock), HEI distributor from Landon's. 

Thanks in advance!

[P15-D24]

Pre pressurize the oil gallery from an external source.  It's covered in the earlier factory manuals, don't know about the '57 manual. Only real way to protect those new bearing. 

 

 

[Matt Wilson]

To prime the pump, you need to completely submerge it in a container of oil and spin the shaft until all the bubbles are gone.  After that, you need to prime the oil passages.  Since the oil pump has a gear that meshes with a gear on the camshaft, it's not possible to stick a flat-bladed screw driver on a drill into the engine to spin the oil pump, like on many other engines, so some other method of pressurizing the oil system is needed.  Some people do that by installing the primed oil pump, removing the spark plugs and cranking the engine until they see oil pressure on the gage.  With the plugs removed, the engine doesn't develop compression, so the bearings won't be damaged as the engine spins - or so the theory goes.  I did that with my first flathead rebuild, but I think there are better alternatives that are less risky to the bearings.  Some folks have pressurized the passages with pressurized air tanks that force oil into them.  I don't know the details of these setups.

There is another option that I plan to use when I'm ready to start my freshly rebuilt engine.  I have a spare oil pump, and I removed the gear from it by knocking out the pin that holds it to the shaft.  I plan to install that pump on the engine and since the gear is removed, I should be able to spin it up with a drill and a flat-blade screw driver bit.  There is a slot in the pump that normally engages the distributor, which should accommodate a flat bit.  I'll spin the pump with the drill until I get good oil pressure readings for a few seconds, and then I'll rotate the engine a few degrees by hand, and I'll repeat this until I've rotated the engine at least a couple of full revolutions by hand.  That should ensure the oil gets to all the passages.  If you have your old oil pump, and if it produces a decent amount of pressure, it would probably be suitable for this purpose. I would take it apart and clean it up well before using it.  After pressurizing everything in that manner, I plan to remove the oil pump and prime my new pump and install it onto the engine and then use the starter to spin up the engine (with plugs removed) to further ensure that everything gets well-lubed.  The only areas that may not get so well-lubricated by these methods will be the tappets and valves, since they are not fed by pressurized oil, but you will no doubt be coating the tappets and their bores and the adjusting screws and valve guides with oil during assembly.  I would recommend you also put oil into the cast cups that are behind the valve covers, which feed the tappets.  Also, the cam lobes and the tappet surfaces that contact the cam lobes will need to be coated with cam lube for proper break-in.  Usually, an engine with a new or freshly ground camshaft needs to be run at about 1800 - 2000 rpm for something like 20 minutes to ensure proper cam break-in, but follow your camshaft supplier's recommendations.

Good luck!

[dpollo]

 Fill the galleries with oil  through one of the ports on the distributor side.   Gravity will do it if you use a supply tank mounted above the cylinder head level.  Maybe use an  oil filter canister adapted for the task.

Speaking of oil filters :   One word of caution.   Make sure your oil filter is hooked up correctly with the drain (bottom) into the vertical port in the block and the pressure into the side of the canister .

Without the spark plugs , crank the  engine over until you have some pressure, then proceed to start. Matt, above offers good advice.

[Dodgeb4ya]

I always use a oil pump with the gear teeth removed to prime these engines.

Edited July 9, 2017 by Dodgeb4ya

[belvedere]

Thanks for the replies!

 

[medium_jon]

On 7/7/2017 at 11:26 PM, belvedere said:

HEI distributor from Landon's. 

How do you like Landon's HEI distributor?

[belvedere]

On 8/8/2017 at 5:53 PM, medium_jon said:

How do you like Landon's HEI distributor?

I just bought it to install during the rebuild, so haven't actually run it yet.  Sorry!

[BigDaddyO]

On 7/8/2017 at 9:29 AM, Dodgeb4ya said:

I always use a oil pump with the gear teeth removed to prime these engines.

Please explain.

The drive teeth removed?

How do you spool it up?

 

[medium_jon]

9 hours ago, belvedere said:

bought it to install during the rebuild, so haven't actually run it yet.

@belvedere: I've not installed mine yet either.

[Plymouthy Adams]

8 hours ago, BigDaddyO said:

Please explain.

The drive teeth removed?

How do you spool it up?

 

with the teeth removed there is no "interference lock to cam gear" to prevent you from spinning the pump from the distributor slot.....

[BigDaddyO]

4 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

with the teeth removed there is no "interference lock to cam gear" to prevent you from spinning the pump from the distributor slot.....

Duh.

I should have known that.

I did know that...had a Homer moment. Must have been thinking of a donut.

[Adam H P15 D30]

Assemble the pump with some trans gel on the rotors.  That way if you don't get around to starting the engine for a while, the lube will still be there when the time comes.  The trans gel will quickly break down and will not clog anything one the engine is running.  I have used this method for both transmission and engine pumps for years.

Adam