Background
Engine (305) has beeing sitting in garage for just over a year.
Will be replacing v/cover gaskets this weekend.
Will be replacing oil pan w/ Canton roadrace pan & p/u screen this weekend.
Figured may as well replace pump and intermediate shaft.
Ordered all and had screen depth preset and tack welded to pump, so now I can't pack it w/ assembly lube.

I'm assuming... (correct me if I'm wrong)
replacing the driveshaft is done from below.
that priming isn't necessary w/ a packed pump

If the shaft is installed from below, that's great since I won't have to touch the dist (there are already many small things that I may have to deal with to get the motor (swap) running right, not having to deal w/ timing as well is a plus.)

My plan.
'fill' pump with oil, and promptly watch it drain out.
install shaft, pump, pan etc.
fill new oil filter w/ oil
fill motor w/ oil by way of on top of heads (valve covers removed)
(My thinking is that at least the rockers, lifters and cam will be oiled.)

It will be a least a week (rewiring and buttoning up the rest of the car) before it will be ready to fire.

Questions.
In a week, will there still be enough oil on the components not to tear up anything?
Would squirting some Wd-40 on the rods and crank (while the pan is off) even be worth the time?
Will this work or just say screw it, yank the dist, prime by conventional means? (which includes killing another week buying the tool or hunting for an old one and fabbing it.

TIA

 

If you're really concerned, fill the oil filter with clean oil, pull the plug at the rear of the engine (usually filled with the oil pressure switch/sensor), connect a hose with a 1/8" NPT fitting, and prime it there with a pump oiler.

 

I would hope so. My car will sit for more than a week (sometimes longer if it's winter) between startups, and I don't prelube it everytime it sits for a week or two or more.

That thing will prime itself by the time it cranks over a couple times and fires up. Stick it in and gitter' done!

 

Putting oil in the pan will submerge the oil pump in oil. No need to pack the pump. At a minimum pre-fill the oil filter with oil before installing it.

RBob.

 

I guess the sarcasm wasn't obvious enough in that first reply. Weeks? Mine sit for a couple months before restarting. You should see how long engines or vehicles sit at the assembly plant, and in transit, and then at the dealerships without starting.

 

The engine has sat for just over a year. I look at this as the equivalent of the engine just being built with no assembly lube in that all the oil has drained off the bearings etc. It's 'dry'.

I was more concerned that this half-*** way of oiling stuff down would be equal to as if the engine was running. If so, then no, I wouldn't have any concern of it sitting for a week or a month.

Guess my question should have been, will filling the motor with oil on top the heads lubricate everything that would normally get lubricated as if the motor was running?

sounds like the consensus is the motor will get primed just by cranking it over and no assembly lube is needed for 'dry' engines.

 

It certainly won't hurt to lube up the rockers and pivots with direct oil if the covers are removed. And it wouldn't hurt to fill the filter, or fill the oil galleries by removing the oil pressure switch. My point was that unless the engine was assembled completely dry (no assembly lube) there should be some lubrication left on bearing surfaces.

Just for the sake of argument, you might want to consider removing all the plugs, lightly oil the cylinders through the plug holes, fill the sump with oil, and allow the starter to spin up the engine with no load until some oil flow is established. If you do this before you fire the engine, starting dry should not be a concern.

I would NOT use WD-40 as a lubricant. If you were planning to "mothball" the engine for a long period of time, applying a rust preventive coating of WD-40 might not be a bad idea so long as you were intending to clean it all out and properly oil it before proceeding. But it sounds like you'll be starting the engine in a couple weeks or less, so it isn't necessary.

 

Thanks for all the advise guys. After I bought this car, I was driving home and added 8 quarts of oil on the 800 mile trip. (I got screwed on that sale) By the time I pulled into the driveway it had a nice main knock. My roommate said "I got a name for it... Knocker". Put in a mild 350 after that. I'm doing another motor swap now, and I really don't want to rename this car "Knocker Again".