start up after rebuild

iddie makel

Active Member
Hello again everyone,
when you have some free time,please give me your thoughts.as you will remember,you all guided me through the process of pulling my first engine.I chickened out on trying to rebuild the 264 myself,and am currently having that done by a retired machinist.I have read and heard horror stories of others who have had engines rebuilt and then blow it all because of some discrepancy.what can I do when I get the engine back to make sure that oil will be pumped to the right places upon startup?What type oil should I use in the new engine?I have a '55 264 cu.in.with manual transmission.Thanks in advance to all who respond,and a special thanks again to all of you who took the time to guide me through my first engine removal and teardown.I don't want to name specific names,because I don't want to offend anyone by forgetting to name them.So I say again,thanks to everyone.
iddie
 
Iddie

Make sure he lines the holes up in the front cam bearing with the holes in the block. I have a spare distibutor with the cam gear removed I'll use to pump oil till I get pressure before I install the distributor I'll run. I always fill the oil filter with oil before I install it also.
 
Hey Judd,
Thanks for the help.I understand what you are saying about the bearings being aligned,and filling the filter,but I'm lost with the distributor thingy.When you find some time would you break it down for me.I'm in no hurry,I'm weeks away from getting my engine back.Thanks.
iddie
 
Iddie
If you look at your distributor it has a gear at the bottom. This meshes with the gear on the rear of your cam shaft to drive the distributor. The distributor has a slot that fits in the oil pump to drive it. If you have a distributor with out the gear ( drive out the pin and the gear will come off ) you can install it in the motor and turn it with a drill or speed handle for a socket and pump oil through the motor with the oil pump. If you turn on the key after the motor is in the car some one can watch the oil pressure gauge while some one else turns the distributor till the gauge reads pressure. This will fill all the oil passages with oil before you start the motor so it gets pressure sooner on that first start up.
 
In the buicks.net "shop" there is an article for building an engine Oil Priming Tool. The example shown is a straight 8, but the idea is exactly the same.
 
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