Wondering if anyone out there can give me some good advice as to how to prime my '96 LT1 engines' oil pump. This was a crate motor purchased a while ago, and has not been cranked over at all. I want to prime the oil pump to fill up the galleys, passages prior to cranking the engine over. I'd rather NOT have to take the intake off...

 

not to sure if the lt1 is the same as a older 350 but i ripped apart a distributer and put a drill on the top and primed my pump before start up. oh and remove the cam gear. sorry if this isnt helpful

 

Since there's no hole for a distributor, you're SOL. I wouldn't worry about it. If it's put together right there is all kind of assembly lube on the bearings in the engine. If it makes you feel better you could disable the fuel and crank it over until you got oil pressure, but I wouldn't worry about it.

 

 

there is no distributor, and it's been such a long time, i'm not so comfortable with cranking over an engine that has been basically bone dry for many years. Knowing that crate motors are built to last, and built to last long 'sits' before cranking over ie: lubed....has anyone been in a similar situation, or should I be cautious and take the intake off? I'm not worried about it starting the ECM is not hooked up yet. Anything else I could do? looking for suggestions and thanks everyone for suggesting so far....really we all get better at this by the advice given, now from the net, before from the speed shops, machinists, dads....and dare I say bar talk?....

 

honestly, you're probably fine. oil won't *completely* drain off of the cylinder walls. There's a thing called OIL FILMING, which keeps the metal always wet. if you're really that worried about it, and don't want to pull the intake, intentionally overfill the crankcase... and drain it. I mean that's absurd though.

 

some shops have pre oilers. you hook it to one of the oil channels on the block and hook it to an air line and it pushes the oil through the system. mostly in engine building shops. other wize it has assembly lube on the bearings so dont worry about it just fill the crankcase and oil filter to minimize how long it runs without pressure

 

Filling the oil filter before spinning it on will help. The filter should hold a quart of oil, it'll take time to fill it.
I do this as a matter of habit on oil changes.

 

Thanks very much for all the feedback, I also, as a matter of habit, fill the oil filter (yet more proof of the fine engineering of the smallblock chevy motor) with oil prior to spinning it on. I hope to be cranking it over this weekend! - Bruce