Stan,
Hopefully you filled the dipper tray prior to all of this......if not, don't attempt a restart without doing so! Do you have a Mechanical Procedure Manual for your vehicle (and that engine)? It spells out the procedure. If you have pre-filled the tray, then it may be a pump priming issue. I remove the inlet pipe that runs from the pan flange up to the pump and invert it so that I can pour oil down the pipe into the pump. Another method is to remove the two large plugs on the pump and apply a bit of grease (Vaseline is often used) to seal things up.
If an air leak exists anywhere on the pump inlet circuit, it won't pick up the oil. The pan gasket and O-ring at the pan flange is important. Some of the early ones didn't have an O-ring or the deep chamfer for it in the block.....not sure about yours but I think it should be there.
That said, What is your indication that there is no oil flow? I wouldn't expect much oil to be thrown up into the tappet chamber within a few seconds of running and [i]none at all[/i] if the dipper tray was not pre-filled. Is the engine in the car with the oil light properly hooked up?
We need to know more to analyze your situation.
Frank

Thank you,frank. I don't like to admit that I'm not to bright, but I remember having the engine upside down when I put the pan on,thus no oil in the dipper tray. That being said ,can I put a couple of qts. of oil in to fill the tray and then drain the oil pan to get the excess oil out? Then put 5 qts of new oil in. The oil light isn't working as it doesn't come on when I turn the key on. Do you know where I could get a mechanical procedure manual? I could tell by the sound of the engine that it wasn't getting oil and that's when I pulled the coil wire. The engine is in the car. Thanks

Stan,
Yikes! I hope it wasn't a knocking sound that alerted you to kill it!
The book says to pre-fill the tray before putting it on (obviously not possible with the engine inverted) but a better way is to pour a couple of quarts through the tappet chamber drain holes. It can be messy if you try to go too fast. I use a pressure pot to do that task (see photo if it made it) but it can be done otherwise. Pour [i]at least[/i] 2 quarts through those holes, moving along to get it distributed. The main and cam feed troughs are just below those holes so this method pre-lubes those as well. As you said, any excess can be drained afterward.
Those engines don't have any internal components that are pressure lubricated.....it's strictly a "splash" lubricated machine. If you didn't pre-fill the tray, there was no oil for the rods to dip and so, none was "slung" up onto the crankcase wall to feed the mains/cam. Hopefully the engine was assembled with generous amounts of assembly lube.
You really should get the oil light working before you proceed.
Someone will jump in and advise you on how to view the MPM for your engine. It must be a '40 to '42 or so?

[color=#ff0088]Then put 5 qts of new oil in[/color]. ?? I'd assumed there was new oil in it already. ?

Thank you frank, I did everything that you said to do and everything turned out great. Turned out the bulb was broken in the oil warning light. Thanks again stan

Stan,
Glad to hear that.
Frank

Frank, your procedure for pressurizing the oil pump is valuable and noted.
It got me to thinking (and worrying) though. My engine (splasher eight) was run on an engine stand more than a year ago with good oil pressure. After setting that long-due to my slowness in rebuilding the rest of the car I'm close to start up again. Will I be ok just doing some slow cranking of the engine for a while before turning on the ignition, just to re-prime the pump and get some oil splashed up?
...k

You are quite safe in just starting the engine right up.. The oil does not drain out of the pump, and there is enough residual oil in there to start it right up again.

I agree with Geoff. Also, the dipper tray should still be full as well, since it doesn't drain even if you had drained the reservoir (that's a bit of a downside to that system in terms of usual oil changes).
Fire away.
F

Thanks Guys, gives me more of a warm, fuzzy feeling...k