As Ray suggested when cranking initially when the starter gets hot I would suggest that you should still be able to touch it without great discomfort then leave it to cool fully. A friend sets a separate electric motor up and drives them for 2 or 3 hours with a fan belt with no spark plugs. Now that you are sure oil is going through the complete engine any method of unloaded turning will do good but monitor oil pressure. If you can having the cooling system operational (even with straight water) wont hurt though not neccessary.
Tony

I did what Ray suggested & bought a battery pack. It lasted a couple of minutes and needed a charge. Today I installed the rad to try & start it. Looks like I have the wrong upper tank since my new FS rad cap won't fit. I think I have the correct one buried behind a row of flower pots under two feet of snow.



I also hooked up an oil pressure gauge. Didn't get any cranking with the battery but got some with the drill.

The battery pack only lasting a short time will save the starter overheating. If using a 12v battery pack disconnect all other electrics from that connection.
As an after thought, when using the starter do you have the distributor installed as it drives the oil pump.
Tony

Posted on January 4th......

Tony,

Oddly enough, with all the cranking I did using both the Mustang's battery and the battery pack, the starter didn't even get warm. And yes I do that with the distributor in place.

As JunkYardDog noted you had the distributor fitted earlier but you had since primed the system with a drill, I didnt want you to crank it while the distributor was not refitted after using the drill.

With relatively light loads the starter may not get warm but best to check in case. Again erring on the safe side.

Tony

This is Exactly what I was instructed to do when I had my engine rebuilt back in the ninety's.

Turn the oil pump via the distributor hole using a drill.
Once you get the oil up to the rockers everything is sweet, and you can insert the distributor, time it and proceed to start the motor.

The reason why this is done is because the Babbitt poured bearings need to have oil present before starting, and the only way to insure that this has happened is by visually seeing oil at the rockers, via the oil pump at the bottom of the distributor opening.
Just do it and you will be fine.

When you time it, dont forget to get number one cylinder at TDC and check that the leads for number one point to that cylinder. Not forgetting that the firing order should follow the rotation of the distributor...basic I know, but its easy to be caught out and have the leads in the wrong firing order mate...
Good luck

cheers
Peter

it looks like a TRUCK radiator cap, different fittings underneath!

Here's what I have. Which is correct? I see FS has both the truck & car application under the same part number.