I'll be honest, i have no idea what "priming the oil" means when people say it. But, the guy building my engine (to be delivered next week, woo hoo) says he is currently "running the oil pressure up" - is that the same thing? Thanks,

Stephen

 

Could be. "Priming the oil" means that the user isturning the oil pump thru some mechanical means to pressurize all of the oil system components. That way the oil pressure comes on almost instantly when the engine is first fired up.

 

This is ususally done with a drill motor and a fitting for the oil pump shaft,(can be 1/4 in socket)that is driven off the bottom of the distributor. Spin the oil pump till oil seeps from all the push rods & rockers. This way all the oiling system is primed & there are no "dry" surfaces on engine start.
Be sure to throughly tape or secure, what ever fitting your using to spin the oil pump deive shaft, lots of them have ben dropped down into the engine. Then Ya gotta(unless your real lucky)pull the oil pan from the engine.

 

+100000000000000 on taping or securing the fitting

I actually had this happen one time and had to drop the oil pan to get it out.NowI have a socket welded to an extention just for this purpose.
Jeff

 

Several things get done. The oil pump itself gets primed, so there's no time lost on first fire-up while the pump suction gets going. The oil filter gets filled, which represents several seconds more time. So do the oil galleries and passages. Finally, oil actually starts getting to the places where it is needed, without those parts having to move (though for a fussy buildsomething may be gained by rotating the crank by hand and spinning the oil pump again with the crank/cam/lifters/rockers in different positions).

Norm

 

I also used a small socket to prime the oil system,, then I turned the motor over a few times on the starterwith the plugs out so there wasnt any compression and everything got lubed up good.. If you do it that way, just make sure that your timing is already set.. Orput the dizzy in afterwards..Your builder probably has a running stand: He mounts the engine to a big electric motor and takes compression readings and makes sure yourbearings and everything keep the oil pressure at about 300 rpm, using hisown oil pump.. My builderdid this too, and provided me the new oil pump still in box to install myself.. It was a long block build..

 

Another priming tool would bean old distributor with the cam gear removed and otherwise stripped to the housing and shaft...

 

That's really the better way.

With a socketextension or cheapie priming tool chucked in a drill it's possible for the tool to slip in the drill chuck if you try to pump it too fast. When that happens, little metal filings fall out of the chuck . . . right into that open hole.


Norm

 

lol, you guys are great. Thanks for the tips; so I'm guessing since he said he's "pressuring" the oil, that sounds similar to what ya'll are talking about.

Thanks again