Priming oil pump

Finishing up the Super C, if time allows it should be running this week. Before starting, how do I prime the oil pump on this? Can i just take the coil wire off and crank the motor 30 seconds or is there a better way. I came this far, and dont want to screw it up now.

You are better off to buy or build an oil tank that you can hook up to your oil galley and fill it before turning the motor over. The pump primes fairly easy but it takes a while to fill the whole system and reach the pressure gauge. Your external tank can be air pressurized like the one I made from a 20lb lp tank or you can build or buy some fancy ones too.

A pressurized oil tank is always a good idea, but very few repairmen use that system. As the oil pump sits right in the oil priming is not a problem on that engine. I leave spark plugs out so engine spins much faster and easier. Then I use like 10 second bursts and minute or so rest with starter until I have oil pressure. If that does not bring you pressure you are not ready to try starting engine.

After we put our Farmall M engine back together, we just pulled it around the yard in 5th gear with the ignition switch off until it built oil pressure.

If you used a good assembly lube when you put it together, just start it up & watch the gauge. It takes a little while to fill the filter but should have full pressure soon. Just think, every time you shut it off, & start it again, it has to run a while to get up full pressure too. And that hot oil drains off way more than a good assembly lube.

Didnt you use assy lube and dipped the pistons in oil before installing. You can remove the oil pressure guage and turn engine over without plugs till you get oil.

Filter is bypass type with metered inlet so it does not have to fill before you get oil pressure to all engine parts.

What difference does it make if you are grinding it with the starter or it's grinding under its own power? It still takes the same number of revolutions to build the oil pressure and the same amount of wear and tear is incurred.

There is a little bit less load on the crankshaft bearings while cranking compared to idling, not that it really makes much difference if it has been lubed during assembly.

When an engine is cranking you have no combustion heat burning oil off the cylinder walls and very little pressure on the rod and main bearings compared to running under power. You can also hear a definite change in the way the engine sounds while cranking when it gets oil pressure to all bearings. Cylinders get their oil from throw off from rods so the quicker they get that throw off the better. That is also the reason you don't want to let a engine idle very slow when newly over hauled or for extended periods of time anytime. This doesn't mean that an engine started right up is going to fry, it just means that over the long haul, working on many engines it is just going to average out better the quicker the oil pressure is there when it starts. Ever hear one of the very first IH V8 304 when they started up after an oil change. They knocked like crazy and more than one filling station who changed oil shut them down and scratched their head wondering what happened. IH solved the problem by making small reservoir pockets in the main journal (front one I believe). They claimed it never hurt anything , but it did alarm more than a few.

Don't these tractors run a bypass filter? Therefore filling the filter isn't the reason for the delay?

FYI - I would prime it.