Melling 201 priming tool and the LA

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73Dart340Sport

73Dart340Sport

73dart340
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Has anyone had any experience with the melling MLP-201 engine priming system. Specifically on the 340/360 LA engine.
 
73Dart340Sport said:
I have used that and find it to be difficult at best, but that’s probably because have not figured out the trick behind getting the gear out and back in correctly without a lot of swearing. Has anyone considered making a quick video about the “tricks” involved? I know it’s supposed to be simple.
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Twist the gear while lifting it out. You prime the engine though, before you ever install the gear.
 
I’ve got the Direct Connection hardened rod from way back. Any long rod will do. Getting the pump gear out is easier with the biggest longest screwdriver you can find that’ll fit in the slot. Tighter fit the better, like mentioned just twist and pull up at the same time.
 
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
 
67Dart273 said:
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
Click to expand...
Good point on the Allen tool possibly fouling the bushing. I wrapped some masking tape around the Allen, but any tape or even a piece of shrink wrap or thin wall hose would work
 
67Dart273 said:
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
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Turn it CCW.
 
12many said:
Good point on the Allen tool possibly fouling the bushing. I wrapped some masking tape around the Allen, but any tape or even a piece of shrink wrap or thin wall hose would work
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I used some heat shrink. Seemed to work well
 
12many said:
Good point on the Allen tool possibly fouling the bushing. I wrapped some masking tape around the Allen, but any tape or even a piece of shrink wrap or thin wall hose would work
Click to expand...

I use a piece of 1/4" fuel hose slid over it.
 
Last cam change I thought (after the fact) maybe next time I’ll notate at what degrees (on the balancer after mocking things up) the cam journal oil holes line up with the cam bearings so I could quickly rotate forward/back to those timing points exactly and prime vs. going back and forth with the drill and rotating the engine trying get things lined up to get oil up top.
 
First engine I ever built was a 340 to go in my 70 Duster, in 1975 when I was 18 years old. I took the old shaft out, and ground all the gears off of it to use as a priming tool. I just sawed a flat screwdriver off to put in the drill and prime it with. I still have that same old shaft and sawed off screwdriver in my tool box, and will use it on my 273 to prime it sometime in 2021. :D
 
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