Melling 201 priming tool and the LA

You want to be careful. A long allen can beat up the bushing. There is no trick to getting the intermediate shaft out. Take a large screwdriver and turn it. I never remember which way. One direction will walk it right out of there. You can prime the system by tapping some sort of pressure fed oil into the sender port, but that does not prime the pump, necessarily
Turn it CCW.