Rebuilt my 318 and about to run it up - can't find a tool to pre-oil it. Am I relegated to finding a distributor cam gear in a wrecking yard??? Does Melling sell them? Will a big Hex key work?

I just cut off the gear from the oil pump shaft and welded a piece of rod to it. Works great.

http://chucker54.stores.yahoo.net/oilpumprimsh.html

think they are 5/16 hex shaft or maybe 3/8

I cut an end of a allen wrench/hex key off and welded it to a long drill bit when I did mine. It worked great.

make sure you wrap electrical tape around hex shaft so it does not score bushing!

www.summitracing.com has them.

I took a scrap piece of 18" 1/4" steel tubing and ground a hex on the end. I've been using it for over 25 years. Picture to follow, I use it every week to prime my hemis after each rebuid, so it has got a ton of use and still holding up well. Best part it was free.

unless one of your hardware stores has hex rod that you can run & get as said just take a piece of steel rod & grind a hex on the end. Just use an allen wrench for a template.