1969 Swinger 340

I had a very productive weekend, assembled the shortblock on Friday, installed new lights in the shop on Saturday, and finished the engine this morning. I was able to bolt the clutch and trans to the engine, and then lowered the car back over the engine/k member. It's back in the car ready for hooking up the wiring again, and a meticulous prime this time!

As I was assembling the engine, I was cleaning passages and they were dry as a bone. I took apart the old oil pump and the passages were dry as well. I think I really lucked out that there wasn't more damage and it was saveable. This time I took the oil pump and manually drew oil through it, then while the engine was upside down I filled the pickup tube and rotated the engine over to fill the filter. I had a 5 quart jug of oil handy, and before I put the timing cover on I quickly spun the engine right side up on the stand and filled the pan. My thinking was that the oil in the pan would help the pickup tube from draining itself. Still going to spin the engine over with no plugs in it until I see pressure on the gauge, I don't know if I have a third time doing this in me!