Any Recomendations for Surface Oiling Cams, etc after engine sitting drained
 

I'm just about ready to put everything back together (PMO Project). The engine has been sitting on a stand for 3 months with the valve covers & oil cooler off and I'm wondering if I should be spraying all the exposed internals with oil.

I plan to fill the oil cooler with oil before installing but I'm wondering what is the best thing to do before re-installing the valve covers (i.e., spray with motor oil or penetrating oil that is in a spray can).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Can't hurt to oil things up, on our old vw mk2's we pull the dizzy out and with a long shaft and drill you can run the oil pump to prime up everything. Could you do the same but back pump oil thru the oil sending unit port? Or where ever they hook up the accusumps too?

I just pull the coil wire from the distributor and turn the key for a bit before starting an engine that has sat dry for a while. My thought is that the oil pump will push out oil to all of the important areas, so when I re-attach the coil wire to the distributor, I am good to go.

i just pull the fuel pump relay and crank it till i have oil pressure like i do after each oil change and after winter storage

Comp Cams makes a Valve train assembly spray that is for what your asking. Good luck

Thanks for all the tips. I will do as told. I will also look for the assembly spray to give it a little boost.

Thanks!

You don't need to fill the oil cooler with oil before installing it. It'll fill itself just fine as the t-stat slowly begins to open as the engine warms up.

When I have rebuilt an engine I use an assembly lube on the main and rod bearings, and dribble a little into the oil pump. Wrist pin holes in rods get some. That stuff stays put, so no need to worry about it worming its way off and leaving things dry.

After adjusting valves I dribble the assembly lube onto the rockers - in the oiling hole, on the cam/rocker face, and on each side of each rocker, wiggling as I go. That also stays pretty much put. No need to redo it.

Then, as mentioned, the SOP is, with engine installed but plugs out, to disable starting (fuel or spark, but with plugs out you are set) and crank until you see movement on the oil pressure gauge. As an alternative, some crack a cam oiling line and wait to see some oil getting out. Then you hook everything up, cross your fingers, and start the engine.

It would be possible to rig up something using an external oil pump to force oil under good pressure through the engine oiling passages. But I don't think that would be a worthwhile expenditure of time and ingenuity, since letting the engine oil pump do the job seems to work just fine, and there will be adequate residual oil film from the assembly lube. Yes, it can dribble off where free on a surface, but the surface will still have a coating.