MG Car Repair: No Oil Presure, petroleum jelly, oil pump

Question
I have no oil pressure.  Motor has just been rebuilt, valve spring is good, Tried to prime by disconnecting the line to the filter filling it with oil and turning the engine backwards by hand with no luck.  Oil filter is dry. 1975 MGB  Help?

Answer
Hi Mark
If you have a dry oil pump and an empty filter it could take ages before you get any oil pressure.  Ideally, you should have packed the oil pump gears with petroleum jelly (Vaseline in the UK) when you were building the engine.  I would remove the oil filter, fill it with oil, and then spin it back onto the engine.  If you have an oil cooler, this must be filled with oil as well.  

Do not fire up the engine.  Remove the spark plugs, disconnect the side wire from the distributor, and then turn the engine over until you see oil pressure on the gauge.  

If it still won't produce any pressure, you will have to drop the sump pan and pack the oil pump with Vaseline.