Tentatively added six quarts of oil to the system and cranked the engine with the fuel injectors removed to build oil pressure, which happened in a reasonable time given that the hoses were empty. Once pressure came up, the injectors were reconnected and the engine started – bam, an instant 65 psi at idle and no leaks. Setting oil pressure will have to wait until the oil’s warm to see what it settles out at.
I did have to tweak the pump mount slightly to get the belt better centered. The trouble (or maybe it’s a feature) is that since neither pulley is crowned, the roughly 3/4″-wide belt is free to wander on the 1″-wide crank pulley – the one pulley with guides on it. Watching the belt slowly move to one side of the pump pulley was enough to make me loosen the pump bolts and rack it slightly to bring the belt back toward the center, which of course made it move to the other side. I suspect it’s a no-win situation and that as long as 100% of the belt width is always on both pulleys, it’s not worth worrying about.
Next up is connecting the field winding on the new alternator so it’s pulling its weight, then I think a drive is in order!
A tentative track day is coming up on January 10 at Auto Club Speedway.