Will I did drop the tranny because I wanted to clean and paint it anyway. Additionally, the crank wouldn't have dropped down slightly had the tranny still been connected. Didn't use the neoprene type seal because O'Reilly's happen to have the wick type seal available. Never heard of halving it inside the grove. Not really sure that's possible without pulling the entire crankshaft. Ken
Will & Merrisa Nelle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Ken, Thanks. I searched the archives, but this message did not come up. Did you need to remove the transmission or anything aside from the oil pan? I didn't look close enough yet to see if there was anything which was obviously in the way. One other thing, did you consider using one of the later rubber seals, or turning the seals 90 degrees so that the two halves meet inside of the groove in the block and cap rather than at their joint? This is a fix that is made mention of in "How to Restore Your Chevrolet Pickup", by Tom Brownell. -----Original Message----- From: Kenneth Cluley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 10:45 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [old-chevy-truck] rear main seal in 216 Will Here is a post I submitted some months ago on the trials and tribulations I went through in changing out the rear main seal on my '53 model 235. It still leaked slightly after replacing the seal but hardly noticable compared to what it was doing. HTH. Let me give you my take on this from someone who's been through it. Go get the tool kit called a Sneaky Pete from your LAPS-this tool(s) is invaluable for removing and replacing the top part of the seal around the crankshaft. When I first got my '50 3100 that has a 235 engine, I had a pretty severe rear main oil leak. Had to do something about it but didn't want to pull the engine. Dropped the oil pan to get to the bearings. Took the rear cap off which has the bottom side of the seal. Loosened all the bearing caps slightly to drop the crankshaft a small amount. By the way, I used the rope type seal from O'Reillys for replacement. One tool in the sneaky pete package is a tool that looks like a small cork screw - it's used to remove the old seal. That was the toughest part of the job for me is getting the old one out and cleaning the cavity. Another trick I used to clean the remnants of the old one out was to take a welding rod that has some flex to it, put some tape around the end to keep from scratching the cavity and lightly tap with a hammer until it pushes the old seal out. Once the old one was out, I took some vasoline and lightly lubricated the new seal, attached one end to the sneaky pete wire harness and pulled the new seal through. Another trick is to pull in one steady motion - don't try to jerk it through. Torque all the bolts back and replace the oil pan gasket. Don't need to pull the oil pump. It wasn't an easy job but it's doable. Ken Cluley '50 3100 Deluxe Wichita Falls, TX Will & Merrisa Nelle wrote: I have noticed that the engine in my truck is going to be part of the many other Stovebolts with an oil leak problem at the rear main seal. Fall of last year I started my work on the truck by removing the transmission and flywheel so that I could replace a cracked ring gear. In doing so, I found a substantial amount of oil in the flywheel cover pan (the drain hole had become plugged up). I guess my hope was that by some miracle the trouble had disappeared and I wouldn't have to deal with it, but no such luck. Since I started the engine for the first time in nearly 7 years almost two weeks ago and then run it a bit every so often, I have noticed, on the front (engine side) of the flywheel and now on the face, bleeding through the mounting holes, engine oil. Now, I'm no stranger to oil leaks, but this one seems to be a fair bit more than I am used to and would like to tolerate. The biggest thing which concerns me is soaking the clutch disk with oil. Has anyone run into this problem? What are the consequences? I'm building a 235 to swap into the truck, so I'm not looking for any major course of action, but am interested in any tricks that may aid in reducing the rate at which it leaks. I guess while I'm on the subject, how difficult is changing out the rear main rope (I guess some might call it a seal). Or is it even worth it? I'm told that almost all develop a leak with the rope seal. What do you think? Will Nelle Longview, TX '51 & '53 3600 Chevy [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email), to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email), to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! To unsubscribe, send an email (with no subject, no body, just the email), to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Ole Chevy and GMC trucks rule! 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