ready to crank

[mr41cadillac]

im almost ready to crank up a completely rebuilt 41 60 special 346. any advice? im going to turn the distributor shaft to prime the oil pump etc. how long should this take if I do it by hand ? everything is together so I cant see the tee lines. is that about all I need to do ? thanks john

[mgbeda]

I got some great advice about "first crank" on this forum, albeit for a newer car.  One bit was to spin up the oil pump, then rotate the crank one quarter turn, then spin up the pump again, rotate another 1/4 turn, etc., until you've gone through two full turns.

Other information can be found in the thread "To Crank or Not To Crank".  Although I imagine the revs you are supposed to maintain are lower on a flathead.

-mB

[mr41cadillac]

thanks I will di it like that.

[35-709]

It will take a hefty drill motor (1/2 inch) to turn that pump once it picks up the prime and that will happen fairly quickly (less than a minute) if everything is right --- you'll know right away when that happens.  First time I did it on a rebuilt 429 I soon learned that I hadn't put the oil filter on yet.    After the clean up and some more oil the second try was eminently successful.