Well, I just wanted a little more power from my 77 L48. I picked up a set of reman vortec heads, and started to strip the motor down. When I had the old heads off, I noticed a good size nick in one of the cylinders. I pulled the engine and brought it to a local machine shop. He told me a week to hot tank, magnaflux, bore .30 over, and do cam bearings and freeze plugs. SIX WEEKS LATER, i got the block back last Friday...Sunday I put in the new Comp Cams 268 cam, and the Vortec heads. A friend stopped by and we lowered the engine into place and bolted the engine mounts and tranny bolts. At that point, I called it a day. While I lay in bed Sunday night, I ran the day events through my mind, and it hit me....mentally, the short block was complete, so I didn't think about it when I dropped the pan on, but later I realized...I hadn't put the OIL PUMP IN! IDIOT! CRAP!
So, this weekend, I'll try to drop the pan while the motor is in the car, and add the oil pump. I still need to hook up the exhaust, install the radiator, water pump, fuel pump and distributor....wow...the worst part is, the motor ran fine before I tore it down, just not much power....I guess people say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" for a reason!

 

Personally, I think the benefit of having oil circulating in the engine is much overated

 

Hahaha...Well at least you figured it out BEFORE you tried to turn it over.

 

I think you're right, it's a conspiracy by Big Oil!!!

 

FWIW. If you didn't put one on originally, get yourself a FelPro one-piece oil pan gasket. It's much easier to deal with than a multi-piece when you're working lying on your back with the engine overhead.

 

Easy job to do from underneath....done it several times

 

I would hope on a new rebuild he would try to prime the oil system first before just turning it over. That is when you'd find that you left the oil pump on the toolbox.

 

forgot the oil pump driveshaft once....

 

and then there's the deal about checking the pickup tube so it won't "get loose"

 

And that it has the proper clearance to the pan bottom...

...And you didn't forget that pesky little plug at the front of the engine where the intake lands...

 

Most recommend a new oil pump, but if you dont get one, make sure there is no debris in the pick up tube of your old one. I replaced mine when i chose to go to a 1 piece pan gasket, and realized that the reason why my oil pressure was somewhat low was from debris in the tube. It was like the last guy had the oil pump drive shaft ring break, and the pieces got stuck in the tube.
Now I have about 55 psi at idle with a melling 55A.

Also, that stock pick up tube was hard for me to find. If you can find a way to remove your old one, you definitely need to weld it in place. If you get a new pick up tube, you may need to trim back some of the oil pan baffles to make it fit.

 

 

I've done that - tool box was a mess when I started priming the pump