Pre-oiling before cranking

My 61 F-head has not been started for about 12 years (shame on me, I know). I'm currently going through some wiring issues (dog ate some of it), carb is being redone, emptied out and checked gas tank, repainting some surface rust, lots of fairly minor stuff. But, I'm a little nervous about rolling this motor "dry". I know the motor is free; I've added Marvel Mystery oil to the cylinders and waited several days, then rocked it slightly through the drive train (clutch is froze up). Can I remove the distributor and run the pump with an extension and drill motor? If so, what does the drive look like? Slotted, hex, what? Can it even be done? Or, should I even bother? Not all that confident about reinstalling the thing without screwing up the timing; I know I would need to find TDC, mark position of the rotor, mark hold-down, etc. I've just never done that. Probably paranoia. Get all this done, and I'll be starting over with a whole new list of questions. If my motor doesn't like the idea (shudder - 2600 miles when I last drove it) I guess it might be time to look into some of the conversions Dad was considering back in the 60's when we had some other power troubles. Be kind; I may over the hill, but I still don't know everything.

 

Just what I was thinking plugs out coil wire off put it in neutral and crank away

 

See? That's just what I was hoping for; can't be done. Now I don't have to grow an ulcer worrying about the timing. Thanks, fellas! I was told that the distributor gear was going to come out with the dist. shaft, and somehow I would get past the cam .... I like this idea better. I'll move on to my next project, redoing the wiring between the ignition switch and the coil. Thanks again!!!

 

that would be the case for the v6, but the 4 cyl has the cam gear on the oil pump and the distributor just slides into the slot on the pump. soo what someone told you was right, just not for the f-head...

basically what glenn said in a lot more words.