Oil Pump Engine Priming

[scottmcwms]

Ok, so the time has come to finally start up my engine after 18 months of frame-off restoration. I completely rebuilt the engine so I decided to prime the engine with oil by spinning the oil pump with a drill before actually starting the motor.

I got a 1/4" long socket driver and started turning it by hand to make sure everything was turning freely. Then I hooked it up to the drill. I spun the oil pump counterclockwise to run the pump. I noticed for the first couple of revolutions it spun pretty freely, but then it started resisting more. My drill was working pretty hard to turn the pump. I could still turn it by hand but it required more effort than before. I put my torque wrench on it just so I could give a numerical value for how much it was resisting, but it didn't even register on my wrench which has a minimum torque value of 5 ft-lbs. So, the question is whether or not I have a problem here or is the pump performing normally. I have never primed an oil pump before, so I didn't know what to expect. And YES I do have oil in the oil pan!

Next, what do I need to do before I start up the engine. I have been filling the radiator for about a week now. It seems to be filling up finally. I filled the powersteering pump with fluid and it is ready to be bled. I need to put gas in the tank and prime the line. Battery is charged. Other than that what else do I need to consider before I start the engine?

Scott

 

[deltarat]

It loaded my dewalt cordless drill a little also when the pump primed.

 

[needabronco]

if you know you have oil pressure, take the plugs out and turn it over until you know you have fuel in the carb, if your timing is close it should fire right up.

 

[ransil]

That sound normal.
if you want to check oil pressure without connecting a battery use an ohm meter connected to the sender, mine read about 75 ohms with pressure, infinite without.