Gary_P is right again, both early & late heads will work on the late block. It's only the late head/ early block combo that's a problem.

The oil pump lays on its side, so it is difficult to prime with oil & have it stay there, so I use a light grease & push some of it down the inlet side while rotating the shaft by hand to ensure that the interior is coated with it.
The grease is used as a sealant to help the pump to move the air from it & pull the oil up into it. It is also very important that the pickup flange is flat, & that the seal between it & the block is a good one. If not, then at cranking speed, it will suck air into the pump.

I have a very small oil pressure guage that I bought at a Harley shop & I fit it directly to the pump & watch it while I crank the engine over [without plugs] with a remote starter button, & I never start an engine untill I have at least some oil pressure first.

Oh yeah, you did fill the filter with oil before fitting it, didn't you? Even a running engine will need a few seconds to fill it if it's installed dry.

My only problem with A series engines is the inability to drive the oil pump with an electric drill to prime the pump & build pressure before start-up like you can with L series & my Chryslers.
Don't wory about your oil pressure guage line. It does not need to have oil in it for it to work.

Yup the filter was filled and the oil pump primed as much as possible. How much cranking shoudl it need to build pressure? My battery is pretty much dead but we were using a charger to bring it up but by the end of the day it would only crank for about 20-30 seconds before coming to a crawl.

Maybe I'll look for a qauge at the parts store and try again. If not it sounds like the next step is to pull the oil pan and double check the pick-up and baffle plate. Can this be removed on a B310 without raising the engine?

Also, when I removed the drain plug I could feel the pick-up just inside as if it were almost touching the bottom of the pan. Does this sound right?

Plugs were out the whole time by the way.
Michael

I turns out I don't really have money for the gauge right now.

Any other suggestions or ideas?

Should I just forget it and try starting it up without getting oil to the rockers?

I'm getting desperate. I need to be able to move this car in a week :(