I've been busy lately, but I finally found some time to work on my engine swap. Today I removed the
oil pan and the
oil pump pickup tube from the old 460 engine block. The engine was on an engine stand and positioned upside down. I noticed that the
oil pump drive shaft popped out of its hole due to gravity. I grabbed the shaft and positioned it back in the oil pump hole. It fell out again. Okay, so it falls out when the engine is upside down. No problem, unless it fails to slide properly into place when the engine is re-positioned straight up. Problem is, there doesn't appear to be anything directing it straight toward the hole (i.e., it seems like with the engine upright, the oil pump drive shaft could fall downward but miss the hole such that it does not engage the oil pump). Is that possible? Must I bolt the oil pan to the new engine with the engine sitting upright to ensure that the drive shaft never becomes disengaged from the oil pump?