should I prime my engine before I start it up? I put in a crapload of assembly lube, does it matter?

 

YES! Just turn it over a couple of times. Nothing worse than a dry start.

-Rippin

 

Get an old distributor and a 1/2" drive drill. Take the distrib apart so it's just a shaft with a drive gear, and grind the teeth off the gear. Stick it in the distrib hole and engage it with the oil pump drive, and turn it in the clockwise direction for a minute or two. I'd never start a new engine without priming it.

You could also just front the money for a priming tool from Summit or someplace and use that with the drill.

 

how much is the tool? id rather just buy the tool...

is priming really important? like....can you screw up bearings if you don't prime?

also, is there a sleeve of some sort the holds the oil pump shaft to the oil pump? it's a u grove on the pump side, and the shaft has the slot that fits in, but it looks like a sleeve of some sort should go on to hold them together....

bleh....short of something terrible, my swap starts this saturday....the 350 we built before mine for my buddies car is having problems, it "runs" fine, but it's making a funny sound (rod knock, pinging?) lots of motorheads with no idea what the sound is, it sounds "wierd" but no one knows what it is....it almost goes completely away when the engine revs high....so rod knock or pinging doesnt make sense....that engine was not primed before startup, and needless to say im nervous....college is sept 2nd and i need my car....this needs to go smooth.....hopefully i haven't forgotten anything that will cause me to have to stop and wait for parts....i need a new starter with a 14" flexplate i think thats the only thing left.....wish me luck

thanks for all the help over the past few months to everyone

 

When I put together an engine I always coat the whole inside with STP oil treatment, bores and all. I also have some stuff that I use to coat the bearrings so they never sieze but I cant remember what its called. Ill go look at it tommorow. I think I still have a tube of it.

 

i used engine assembly lube on the bottom end...that stuffs supposed to be good.....im starting to think if i should tear down the bottom end real fast and make sure there is absolutely NO grit at all on my bearings/journals.....we were pretty clean.....but 1 piece of grit could eat my bearing away......blah....

 

is priming really important? like....can you screw up bearings if you don't prime?

Yes - it is very important you prime a fresh engine with pressurized oil before firing it for the first time. I would never dry start a new engine.

Take The Great J's advice, and get yourself a priming tool and use it. The small investment you make to buy that tool will more than pay for itself the first time you fire that engine.

 

Priming the oil system is probably the most important thing you can do when firing a fresh one up. Assembly lube is great but it's mainly for keeping the bearings clean and for rotating the assembly by hand to check valve-piston clearances etc.

There should be a sleeve at the bottom of the oil pump drive shaft. It'll be nylon for a stock type replacement or steel with a rollpin for an aftermarket HD unit. If you're using a high volume or high pressure oil pump then you need the steel-sleeved shaft.

 

open it back up to check your self so you can sleep at night but please do not do it fast.Take your time its not a race

 

Prime it, I would use the tool... this will allow oil to fill the passages and make their way to the main bearings, cam bearings, lifters and so on... turning it over works.. but your creating friction when you turn the motor over... it takes time to build oil pressure even with a drill.. it takes a good 15-20seconds to get a reading on the gauge. Use the tool or an old distributor, you'll thank yourself later, so will your motor

 

It starts tomorrow (sat) at like 6am, and it is a race, because college starts for me on Sept 2nd, and I need a daily driver....

I bought a new oil shaft with a steel sleeve and rollpin for like 10$, I bought the oil primer tool for like 15$ and picked up my fuel reg, the instructions didn't say anything about tampering with the inline fuel pump. It simply has instructions for installation and how to set pressure and how by using the distance (head loss per 100ft) and line size you can control GPM....very cool...what GPM do I want?