I have a question with my newly rebuilt 383.  Its all assembled and ready to light off, but I get no oil pressure when cranking.  I've been following the instructions in the "How to rebuild Mopar big blocks" book, and it states that you should build up 15-30 pounds of oil pressure just by cranking alone.  I have even pulled the oil pressure sending unit out of the block and cranked it over, with no oil visible from the hole.

Is this normal?  Shouldn't I have indication of oil pressure just by cranking?  I've been thinking about maybe starting the engine, and shutting it down if pressure doesn't build up within 15 seconds or so.  Would that hurt anything?

Thanks in advance for the help, this is my first engine rebuild.

Don't start it!!! If it won't build pressure cranking pull the distributer and drive out use a pump drive rod and a drill to spin the oil pump, if this won't pump the oil up you have a problem some where that has to be fixed.  

Thanks for the advice.  I pulled the intake and valley pan and primed the pump with a tool and drill.  It took over two minutes to get the pump pushing oil, so I'm very happy that I did not start the engine (what was I thinking???)

Does anyone think I could have damaged anything by cranking the engine prior to startup?  I have been told to do this in order to fill the carb bowls, but then I've also been told that cranking a new engine could wipe the bearings or cam.  Also, on initial startup I've heard people say to only install the outer valve springs for cam break-in.  Wouldn't you want to start the engine fully assembled like it would be when its running?

So many questions...

Hey, Challengerguy. I wouldn't sweat it. I had almost the exact same thing happen as well. For some reason it took a long time for the oil pressure to build up with the priming rod. Don't know why this was. Once it hit pressure it quickly built up. Maybe it's a 383 thing. My 440 never experienced this. I assume you prelubed the motor during the rebuild so I would worry about the motor spinning over on the starter. People have been doing that for years. Sure it's not the best practice, but could have done better by using the priming rod. Well, fire that puppy up and tell us how it runs. Good luck.

Thanks for the feedback!  I'll post again when I work through my electrical problems (Grrr...) and get her started.  

aye aye aye sponge bob.spin counterclockwise  

if you do not use the priming rod its a good idea to remove all plugs first