Ok it cranks now, but no oil pressure registering on gauge

[WH23G3G]

I think I might know what's wrong but want to ask your opinions. Awhile back before I put the engine in I wanted to check all the lights and gauges so I hooked up a battery and checked all the lights. But it sparked at the battery and melted the wire going from the positive to the starter relay on the fender. That's all it did. I don't know if it did anything to the starter. I found out later the stud in the starter relay had come loose inside and grounded out on the back of the starter relay body. So I put new relay on remade the battery cable identical to the OEM cable that I paid $70 for and rechecked all the lights and everything. The lights and gauges work fine. But now that I have the engine in and try to spin it over, you just hear clicking. I didn't even bother to check the starter when I installed it awhile back because I didn't think anything could have melted inside. Could anything have messed up inside the starter? Everything is hooked up correct, I'm pretty sure of that.

[WH23G3G]

Ok I believe the starter might have been frozen up from sitting in my garage for the past 5 years. I bought the starter new when I got the car 5 years ago but never installed it so it was never used. I tapped it and we tried to turn it over and it spins over nice and it makes that unmistakeable sound the big block Mopars make when it's cranked. It sounded good cranking. We checked for spark and it had a nice blue flame kernel. But oil pressure never registered on the gauge I have. It's a mechanical Sunpro gauge. I'm running a Melling HP oil pump. The engine was primed 4 or 5 months ago by drill when I finished the rebuild. It ran out of the rockers just like it should and registered on a handheld oil pressure gauge. But now when we crank it never registered pressure on the Sunpro gauge I installed. We spun a few times, enough that it should have brought up the pressure. I installed the new oil pump driveshaft last night so I hope I didn't install it wrong. I thought I had it in all the way but now because of this I'm thinking maybe I didn't. Would it still fire if the shaft wasn't seated all the way? Does this engine have to start before oil pressure comes up? I hope I didn't tear the gear up if I didn't seat it all the way. What do you'll think is goin on?

[TylerCharger69]

the distributor wouldn't sit down all the way if that were the case....

[WH23G3G]

The distributor is all the way down and seated. I was able to push it all the way flush against the block and tighten the lock. Does it take awhile to pump oil on a new motor? We cranked it several different times for a few seconds each time. I saw the rockers moving but no oil coming up there. Everything pumped good when I primed the engine when it was out of the car, but that was like 4 months ago. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the way I set up the oil light and pressure gauge together. I used a brass tee, but maybe I don't know if you could use the wrong kind of brass tee. Maybe it's not getting oil to it. But then I wonder why the rockers didn't have oil in them. What else could I check? 

[Patronus]

pump screen?

[elacruze]

Don't take any chances. Take the distributor out and re-prime the engine. Check the pressure while priming, and make sure it comes out at the rockers.

If the pump primes, and oil comes out at the rockers, and your gauge shows pressure, check the drive gear on your distributor to be sure it's properly attached to the shaft. Reinstall the distributor and re-check while cranking.

[WH23G3G]

We tried to start the engine today. It fired up but didn't stay running. It's not getting fuel to the carb for some reason. However, under all that cranking the oil pressure finally shot up to about 25 PSI while it was turning over. We primed the carb and it would fire up perfect with the little fuel we put in the carb and run for 1-3 seconds before the gas ran out. The first time we fired it up, we primed it with a cap full of gas and I hit the key and it fired right up on the first turn. I was amazed there was no fireball throughout all the cranking and testing we did to get it to stay running. I don't understand whats wrong though to keep it running. The fuel system is totally redone. It's got a new staniless fuel tank, straps, sending unit, lines, hoses, fuel pump, filter, pushrod, and reman carter thermoquad. We started with 2 gallons of gas in the tank tried it, then 4 gallons, and now we're up to between 5-6 gallons in the tank. Of course the fuel gauge doesn't read, but the plug for the sending unit doesn't stay on the new sending unit very well, so I'm sure thats the problem there. I don't know if it needs more gas in the tank since the system was dry to begin with or if the fuel pump is no good. The fuel pump is a new Carter for the 400-4bbl and it's been in my garage for 5 years. So I don't know if it went bad. We tried to get it to stay running so much it wore down the new battery I got. I can't believe the battery already wore down. I just got it last Monday from Carquest. It's got 550 CCA 24 series. I guess this motor needs more to fire up until I get it running right. I recharged the battery fully so we will try and figure out what's goin on to get it running. Two other problems the heater valve is leaking from the gasket and the it looks like the torsion bars have to come way up. It looks staggered with all the same size tires.

[elacruze]

Take the feed line off the pump and see if there is any fuel coming as far as the pump. If so, take the output line off and roll the motor through by hand once. If nothing comes out, the pump is bad. If the pump squirts, you have a delivery line/filter/carb problem.

If the feed line is empty, put a pan under it and blow into the fuel filler cap. That should create enough pressure to move fuel. If it does not, you have a blockage somewhere.