<VV> Oil pump question

[RoboMan91324 at aol.com]

Bob,
 
It sounds like you are getting closer to "firing up" your new  motor.
 
It can take significant torque to turn the standard oil pump  with a 
screwdriver and probably more for a high volume pump.  Cold oil is  fairly viscous 
and you don't have much mechanical advantage with a  screwdriver.  If you 
can turn the pump without feeling any mechanical  hang-ups, it is probably 
good.; especially with oil everywhere.  :-)  
 
You can take a hammer and remove the handle of the screwdriver  then use a 
heavy duty drill to turn the pump.  However, if you have a few  extra 
minutes or don't have a heavy duty drill or don't want to destroy a  perfectly 
good screwdriver, you can increase the mechanical advantage of the  
screwdriver.  As follows ....
 
Many moderate to large screwdrivers have a hex-head where the  handle meets 
the shaft.  This is there specifically so you can put a wrench  on it and 
get much more leverage to turn whatever it is you need to turn.   If the 
hex-head isn't there, a vice-grip on the shaft will do.  A vice-grip  on the 
handle may break it.
 
Keep in mind that the heavy duty drill is the best way because  it gets 
more pressure and volume where you need it ... and it is quicker.   If you use 
a drill, keep in mind that you will get a major reverse torque from  the 
drill so be prepared for it.  You don't want a perfectly good drill  yanked 
from your hand and falling to the floor.  
 
Once you get the oil passages filled, more or less, here is  what I would 
do with the engine assembled.  Remove the spark plugs so there  is no 
compression then activate the starter.  You don't want to do this for  too long at 
one time because the starter will get hot even without compression  to 
overcome.  Maybe several events of less than ten seconds each.   There probably 
will not be too much, if any, air/fuel mixture coming from the  spark plug 
holes but just in case, take the power lead off the ignition  coil.  The 
benefit of this combination is that the oil passages are filled  without critical 
parts rubbing.  (Other than the pump components.)   Then, with the starter 
activated, the rubbing parts spread the oil without the  engine revving up.
 
Good luck with the new motor.
 
Doc
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
In a message dated 9/30/2015 9:02:29 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
virtualvairs-request at corvair.org writes:

Message:  2
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 14:14:20 -0700
From: "Bob"  <bgilbert at gilberts-bc.ca>
To:  <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Subject: <VV> Oil pump  question
Message-ID:  <006201d0fafb$cff3a190$6fdae4b0$@gilberts-bc.ca>
Content-Type:  text/plain;    charset="us-ascii"

Hi,

On a freshly  built engine, one with a new high volume oil pump installed, 
how much pressure  does it take to turn the oil pump using a large 
screwdriver in the distributor  shaft?

I can turn it but it's taking more effort than I would have  thought. 

Any  opinions?

Thanks,

Bob