The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Oil priming question

On my 55 v8 265 I just pulled the heads. It did not look like any oil was getting through the lifters and rods. Not exactly sure how the oil flows through the engine and all that works. I have a priming tool but do not think it works because the distributor has a channeled part that oil travels through but the priming tool does not have that. When I was turning the engine over with the starter (while still assembled) the oil pressure did come up. It still has the origiginal copper line that connects to the back of the block and goes to the dash. Is there anything I can do to make sure it is oiling before putting everything back together?

The oil leaves the pump, and goes to the three full-length oil passages from back to front. The ones on the sides supply the lifters, and the one in the center lubes the cam bearings, then the main and rod bearings. 55's had a BAD habit of wearing out the cam bearings to the point that the oil pressure would drop below 7 PSI at idle and make the idiot light flicker. The main and rod berarings got starved for oil because of massive leakage at the cam bearings. The only good fix is to do a total rebuild, including new cam, rod and main bearings. You can do a temporary fix by running a Melling high-volume pump to offset the cam bearing leaks with higher oil volume.
Jerry

To see if it's oiling you will need an oil pump primer that has a collar on the shaft that simulates the distributor. Summit, Jegs and ebay are your best bets online. Hotrod Lincoln is correct in that worn cam bearings will kill the oil pressure. Early 265 SBCs have a unique oiling system in that the rear cam bearing and a "slot" in the cam supplied oil to lifters, etc. The motor has to be turning so the oil will "pulse" through the cam slot to the upper oil galleries. Good Luck

SimS

You can also make a primer out of an old V-8 distributor. Just remove the cam and upper housing and you are good to go.
You can find them at most swap meets for $5-10.
Fred

By "rods" I'm going to assume you mean "pushrods"? The pushrods are hollow, and oil is pumped through the hydraulic lifters, up the hollow pushrods, and part of it squirts out of the small hole in the rocker arm and bathes the ball pivot in oil to keep it lubed. If the camshaft lobe and/or lifter wears to the point that the lifter plunger extends fully, the internal passageways in the lifter will get out of alignment with each other and restrict or stop the oil flow through the lifter. Combine this with low oil pressure to the lifter galleries caused by worn bearings, and the upper end lube to the heads will be the first thing to lose lubrication. It's similar to somebody like me with impaired circulation because of my heart problems- - - -extremeties like hands and feet get inadequate blood flow because the old pump can't handle the demand like it once could. At least the 265 can be torn down to bare bones and rebuilt, sometimes better than new since a high-volume pump is available now. That wasn't the case when these engines needed their first rebuilds.
Jerry