I'm in the middle of rebuilding a chevy 350 and I just tried to charge the oil system with a drill and a rod down to the oil pump shaft. One head primed up and pumped oil through all the push rods and rockers.  The other head did not prime up at all.  No signs of oil in any push rod or lifter.  Any one know why this is happening.  Both sides are built the same.  I was thinking the lack of a distrubter was keeping that side from building pressure.  Could that be it??

Dan  

The best way to prime your engine is with a scrap distributor. Grind off the gear teeth and cut off the adv. weight housing. When you are done,you will be left with a shaft that you can chuck in a 1/2 drill. The shaft body must be present to pressurize the system. While priming, turn the crankshaft 90 degrees at a time with 30 second intervals two full revolutions. This will allow all of the main passages of the crank [5] to line up with the cam bearing passages[5], they need oil too. By installing the distributor housing you will seal the massive leak to the lifter galley that is occuring. Good luck JW454.  

Just a follow up.... I'm glad to say I went ahead with the build and everything is working great(that is except the EGR valve )
Dan