Easy enough to confirm as I said previously. If the converter is spinning and the engine is completely bolted up then you are good. Make sure you have a gap somewhere between 1/8th to 3/16th inch gap from the converter lugs to the flywheel. If you have too much you need to get some matched flat washers to fill in the gap some. Probably should be good but it never hurts to check. As far as priming the oil pump no gauges are necessary or even needed. Cold oil and low rpm drill won't tell you anything. Just the feel of the drill after a few seconds usually does it as you've found out. Also running the drill for a while does nothing. Primed is primed. Unless the engine is rotating the oil is hitting a log jam which builds pressure fast. The only way the lifters will ALL pump up is if the engine is spinning. And, you do not want to rotate the engine except the little amount it takes to bolt the converter on otherwise it will start to wipe out the heavy break-in lube on the cam you used. If you want to make sure you have good oil flow to the rockers with your setup just loosen the first and second rocker hold down bolt on each side. Oil should start flooding out of the first bolt area which is the feed hole for the rockers on the '69 and earlier setup. If it doesn't then you may have trouble. It would be good to have a gauge under the dash on it for when you get it running and racing, however. Leave the distributer out until everything else is ready to go. Then do a quick prime to make sure oil is ready to go immediately on start up. Put the distributer in and make sure it is all ready to go and start it up. Don't screw around idling. Get it up to 2000 or so rpm right away and do a 5-10 minute break-in of your cam. Even though it is a used unit and matched lifters they still need some time to get reacquainted. Good fun!
The white top is still on the car. I used 3M die . The rad was with the car when I sold it? A flex fan let go and made a perfect circle in itand let the magic green stuff out.
Alright for those that plan to tune in to V8Buick from 7pm on, you'll see, hopefully, a lot of updates on this thread....
Torque converter and engine mount bolts fought me, but everything went together as it should. And now reconstruction begins... Quick reminder of where we've been
Ok I lied. Still awake and going strong. All that's left is starter wiring and dust cover for the major pieces. Everything else is procedure and will be tackled in the AMs
Thank you, and I'm about to eat breakfast and tackle a bit more before responsibility hits this afternoon. Tighten all hose clamps, wire literally everything, ensure everything makes sense, eventually fill with antifreeze/water(maybe another day), prime the pump, fill the bowl, set the choke, and away we go
-exhaust (absolute trash) hooked up so many leaks -fuel system is good -ignition is good minus distributor -bracketry and big mechanical things are in place Need: -do the dust cover -tighten everything again -fill carb bowl, prime fuel line -needs water -Hood?????? -all of the steering rack joints, lube them -add one more quart of VR1✅
Too nervous to start it without excessive mental planning. If anyone on the board wants to join me in firing it, be my guest. Just pm or let me know, I'll probably fire it on the 26th so I don't ruin my Christmas if anything goes wrong
