Change oil pump while replacing pan gasket

Got the job done today, about 3 hours start to finish. Pretty easy in a truck. Put a pump in it as well. I thought it may have been a roller cam, but nope. Good ole FT. Inside the motor is nice and clean for an 87 that had not been apart besides a timing chain. primed it up before starting and picked up pressure immediately and was higher at idle than before. Shoot, just might get another 140000 out of this old girl.

Maybe stupid question? How did you prime it before starting? I guess maybe you had intake off as well and pulled the timing gear and used a priming shaft? Or is there a trick I don’t know?