To prime it, remove the distributor and pedestal, and make a reference mark on the drive gear and remove the gear; the shaft will probably slide out with it.
Then use a speed handle or an electric drill and spin it up until you feel resistance and you'll likely hear the oil flowing up to the top-end.
Then reassemble, first aligning the oil pump tang with the pump, and with the marks in alignment, it's a bit fussy since the helix angle rotates the shaft and it has to be in the right spot for the tang to slot into the groove.
I also advise using the pedestal gasket that was fitted because the end float is set during the build by using the correct thickness gasket.
Hopefully it didn't run long and no damage was done.
Good luck!
Glen
Thanks for the advice. Not sure I'm skillful enough of a mechanic to set engine timing (last time I did this was in the '60s, although I still have my old timing light in my tool box.)
It was not an engine rebuild, but I was told that an engine sitting without running (in my case about 2 years) can cause the oil pump to need priming. I'm actually not 100 per cent sure there's no oil pressure, just trusting in the the oil pressure idiot light.
I removed the new oil filter that I installed before starting the engine, and after cranking the engine several times using the starter with coil disconnected., the filter is now pretty full of oil, which seems to me would indicate oil is circulating somehow.
(I purchased an actual oil pressure gauge in order to verify the pressure, but because it proved totally impossible to remove the existing oil pressure sensor, it is still sitting in the box.)
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