[G.M.]

I recently prelubed 2 engines that had been sitting for years. One was a SBC and I was afraid the hydraulic lifters may have gone down and the push rods would jump loose. The other was a 5.7 diesel sitting in crate for 25 years that I was putting in my 78 GMC P/U I bought new. I used a paint pressure pot with a quart of oil in the pot (could be larger) and the pickup tube from the lid down into the oil. I drained the oil before starting and used the 2 quarts as part of the oil change. The hose to supply paint to spray gun was replaced with a short hose to the gauge sender port. You can use the air input gauge and regulator to adjust the oil pressure to the engine. These pots are not used much anymore and can be found cheap. As I stated many times I would not install any oil pump without testing it before installing it. Oil pumps rarely go bad. Most times it's the bypass valves in the later pumps or in the front of the valve valley that has a weak spring. These springs can easily be shimmed, do not stretch. As JM stated turning the engine with the plugs removed on 12 volts will give you the oil pressure you will see driving down the road. This can be done with the engine in the car or sitting on the floor. This along with a compression test and checking valve clearance will pretty well tell you the condition of an engine and how it will run and sound. This simple on the floor test will save a LOT of hair pulling problems discovered after installation. How many of these problems have we seen on this forum over the years?? G.M.