oil pump problem

so i went to fire my recently put in 351w today, and after i put my oil i removed the distributor and tried to pump the oil through the motor, well i was looking through my valve cover and saw no oil coming, we kept at it for a while and still no oil. so we said **** it, we got it to fire and run for about 15 seconds, (fuel lines werent hooked up) and still no oil. i pulled the oil filter and there was barely anything in it

any ideas as to what it could be? i really dont want to have to pull the motor and pull the pan again if i dont have to

 

is the oil pump drive shaft in the drive hole on the oil pump? i just ran into this problem on a recent motor swap.
the oil pump may need to be primed. you do this by diping it in oil with the pick up tube off and turning the drive shaft till oil comes out the outlet. you can also poor oil down the outlet to help prime it.
in this situation you may be able to get oil down the outlet by some how pooring it in though the oil filter mounting boss. that will be really tricky but if you can fiugre out how to do it, it should prime the pump.

 

ill give it a try, thanks

 

how did you prime it before starting it

 

stuck a impact with a socket down the distributor spot

 

did you spin it the right way you should be able to tell if you turn it by hand ??

where are you located i am in north sacramento ( 916 )

 

yeah i turned it the same direction of the firing order

im in the bay area

 

Counter clock wise pumps the oil through the engine and clockwise pulls the oil from the engine.

 

either way, when i had it running for those few seconds it should have picked up the oil...im gunna drop the front suspension tomorrow since i have to switch it out anyways and see if i can pull the pan from the bottom

 

It's not fun, but you ought to have no real problems getting the pan off. Had to do it to my 351W twice after getting it in my Comet ... chunks of old valve seals were in the pan. The stock Ford oil pickup allows them to get sucked in and jam the pump. Got a Mellings pickup with a full screen and that fixed it.