is there clearance to prelube engine in a 75 vegs

[chevyart]

just wondering if anyone has prelubed their new engine when it is installed in their Vega. is there room for the drill to get down next to firewall to spin my prelube attachment in the distributor hole? maybe i need a long extension on drill to clear the firewall? thanks art

[spencerforhire]

If there's clearance to get the distributor out, there should be room to get a drill in there.

[chevyart]

thanks spence: that makes sense. i should have thought about it that way. art

[Monza Harry]

Hey Art if your Drill is just a little bigger than your Dist. you could use this or one of the many items like it (for grinders, HF, Sears Busy Bee etc.) Harry http://www.homedepot.com/p/Ryobi-11-in- ... /202078690 Or http://www.sears.com/omega-trading-grou ... ll=REC_1_0

Flexible Shaft.jpg

Flexible Shaft Grinder.jpg

So Art choose the one with the most uses for you.

[chevyart]

thanks harry: i dont think a flexible one would do the job. probably lots of resistance spinning the pump around. i will use that thought though. if i do need an extension, but it will be a solid shaft extension. art

[chevyart]

now that i know how to get the primer going, i will call on Spence for his expertise again. what is the right way(proper procedure) to prime the engine, step by step. never done this before, and i want to do it right. last race engine, the engine builder did the priming and he started the car to break in the new engine. thanks art

[spencerforhire]

I have a primer made from an old distributor. Basically has the teeth cut off the drive gear and an old 3/8" socket welded to the top of the shaft. It is NOT easy to turn; needs a good 18 volt or even better a corded 120 volt 1/2" chuck drill. I have turned it with a decent air drill as well. A SBC needs the body of the distributor (not just a shaft) to seal the oil passage from one side of the lifter galley to the other.
I spin it for a couple of minutes at a time, stopping every 90 degrees of crank rotation through a full 720 while observing that all 16 pushrods are oiling.
But I don't use it much any more; I now have an Accusump oil accumulator on the car.

[chevyart]

thanks spence. i see the system of rotating the engine at 90 degree intervals for a total 0f 720 degrees. i wonder if this method gets oil up the cylinders to lube the cylinder walls? art

[spencerforhire]

I'm not sure how much oil you can get on the cylinder walls without the engine actually running. The Pre-lube is mainly for the benefit of the bearings and valvetrain. The oil that lubricates the cylinder walls is whatever squirts out between the rod bearings and crank journals. Depending upon how long an engine has been sitting, some guys like to pull the spark plugs and put a little squirt of oil in each cylinder. Smokes pretty good when it does fire, but at least there's something in there. A freshly rebuilt engine would have had some oil on the rings/walls from assembly.

[Monza Harry]

I see the system of rotating the engine at 90 degree intervals for a total 0f 720 degrees. art

Depending upon how long an engine has been sitting, some guys like to pull the spark plugs and put a little squirt of oil in each cylinder. Smokes pretty good when it does fire, but at least there's something in there. A freshly rebuilt engine would have had some oil on the rings/walls from assembly.

Art you could mix your system and Spencer's, Lube the cyl. through the plugs, or through the carb/Throttle Body, while rotating to ensure all cyl for the carb method, and if you plan on starting right then WD-40 is an Ok short term lube and it burns so as not to foul a plug but if this sits for more than a couple of hours it will effectively wash all previous lube off the walls. If that still isn't enough protection to make you feel safe, take a couple of quarts of Pre-Mix 2 stroke fuel in a small can and use that for initial start-up/break-in [plumb the can instead of the "gas tank", remember to unplug/de-fuse the electric pump] Things I have used or seen used, and use your best "common sense" and keep us in the loop, these are just idea's Art Harry

[chevyart]

thanks guys think i know now what i have to use for tools and how to do the job.one idea i always had but never knew what to use was to have some sort of tool to screw into the spark plug hole and squirt a little oil in it and squirt air behind the oil, and i would like to have it sprayed in a 360 degree pattern to cover the whole cylinder wall .any ideas on that one thanks art