Glad you got it all sorted out, and hope the seal arrives there in time to make the Six Banger Nats. Good luck 
Help lol
- Thread starter xrwagon
- Start date
Glad you got it all sorted out, and hope the seal arrives there in time to make the Six Banger Nats. Good luck
Your very welcome! Here is a link with a picture showing on how to clock the rear main seal 1/8 to a 1/4 of an inch, is the best way to do it to keep it from leaking. Good luck
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64519&p=494057&hilit=Rear+main+seal+install#p494057
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64519&p=494057&hilit=Rear+main+seal+install#p494057
xrwagon
Well-known member
Thanks Bubba, another question,, as i have the rear main cap out the bearing shell is out also, i thoroughly cleaned the cap prior to doing the seal. What should i use for the baring when re installing, considering i am re-using it? I have 40W 15 Oil i am going to use in the engine (unless told otherwise) seeing it will be better sealed up, i have a small bottle of the oil to squirt on the valve train and pus rods and cups etc for pre lube, that be ok for the bearing?
xrwagon, the engine oil will work just fine since the engine is still mostly assembled, the parts are also fitted or worn into each other, and the oil pump all ready has a prime. Then as extra insurance you could also pre lube it to get the oil pressure to bearings and lube everything before starting. Couple other ways to lube that rear main bearing is to use some white grease if you have it or some assembly lube which would be a little better then oil or you can also make you own using a combo of oil and STP or a semular product mixed together. Install the cleaned bearing shell dry into the clean bearing cap also dry, then lube the bearing surface. Put some engine oil on the lip of the seal and the crankshaft main as you side the seal in leave the ends of the seal dry. When putting the cap on I usually put a very small dab of non hardening form a gasket or some silicone on the seal ends. Next finish buttoning it all up and you will be good to go. Good luck
xrwagon
Well-known member
ok the right seal turned up today, its installed and torqued up now, the oil pump pickup has a rectangular metal tab, one of the welds was dodgy and broke when i was cleaning it, i’ll get it tig welded later today. I put the gasket on the pan, i have Ultra Black for the oil gaskets and Ultra Blue for the wet stuff, the 2 neoprene seals that come with the gasket i am wondering what silicon you use with them, the old ones has a bead of clear silicone or is my Ultra black enough?
congrats on getting and installing of the rear main seal! If the engine is on a stand with bottom end facing up then this is how I install the pan gaskets for a good leak free seal. Glue down the oil pan gasket (cork types) to the block with some contact cement. On the rubber end gaskets I only put a small dabe of silicone in each of the corners where they meet the cork pan gaskets. Finally check and straighten as needed the oil pan rails then use a little silicon on the pan rails, yes your Ultra Black will be good to use. With the oil pan gaskets installed that way you can usually remove the pan once sometime in the future if ever you need to without damaging the gaskets. Good luck
xrwagon
Well-known member
Ok a bit of an update, i installed the motor last Tuesday night, well the short motor, i pretty much did what bubba suggested with the oil pan seal, i bolted the head and torqued it all up Wednesday, Wednesday night we had major issues with my 2 year old extractors, so a 5 hour fit up, on and off half a dozen times, we installed a couple of studs, and this trued the pipes up and made every bolt hole underneath the flange out by half a centimetre, took to them with the grinder, now they fit as they should do, still not happy with them though, won’t recommend that brand Hi Tech headers to anyone. Thursday i tried starting it, couldn’t get it going, as i had lost TDC when i blocked the head and spun it over a few times to do the head. I had an issue with a head bolt that is used for the earth for the battery, the guy that installed the battery buggered it and i also had left my engine crane washer under the head bolt so out it came, it needed a tap done. Had some lost bolts so brought them. Friday i and the dissy 180 out, went bang. Got TDC back and got her going, did a basic tune, went for a drive, had couple small leaks, one water, one oil, thermo housing and rocker cover bolt, so did them up again. I drove out to the track Friday night, temp was up a little. Raced it for 8 runs on Saturday for a best of 11.87 over the 1/8th mile, the Six Banger Nats on Sunday got washed out after 1 rd of racing, which i had won. A blown Ford Crossflow T/Bucket was there and a aspirated Cortina six crossflow which runs low 7’s over the 1/8th. I drove home, was nice to drive, its a1 and a bit hours to drive home. Car ran well, not tuned quite right. Ran the PB so that was good. Unfortunately last night (Monday) i checked underneath and found oil under her again. I took her to the car wash as its sprayed all underneath the car. Put the car up on stands, high pressure cleaned it. I’ll check today on a hoist and see where its coming from, hopefully not the new seal.
congrats getting it all back together and 1st round win! My guess is that it might now be the front timing cover seal that will need to be replaced due to the age of motor and or a grove worn in the crankshaft damper. A new seal and also a seal saver sleeve if damper is grooved it should be a fairly quick repair done in the car. Good luck
xrwagon
Well-known member
this new leak is from the back some where, my mate had big truck in his workshop, so on the hoist a little later, yeah we only had one rd of racing, rained and no chance of track drying, Saturday racing did 8 runs, night racing was called off due to big storm. Not sure my runs varied from 12.26-11.87
Two more thing on replacing rope seals: IMPORTANT! in the main cap there is a small spike that holds the rope seal from rotating. It has to be removed in order for a neoprene seal to fit. Just punch it out; the neoprene seal will not fit with that in place.
Second, the seal has to be properly oriented with the lips on both sides facing inward. When installed one end of the seal should stand proud of the block and one side of seal proud of the bearing cap so that when assembled the seal ends are not aligned with the cap and block part lines.
Second, the seal has to be properly oriented with the lips on both sides facing inward. When installed one end of the seal should stand proud of the block and one side of seal proud of the bearing cap so that when assembled the seal ends are not aligned with the cap and block part lines.
xrwagon
Well-known member
i removed the pin, one of the first things i did, was careful to get the orientation right with the lip facing the right way, i did the offset also. I tok the inspection cover plate off today, it was fairly dry in there, no spray into the bell housing or on the flywheel, i need to have a further look, found nothing obvious
Double check your VC gasket at the rear,but all the way around for sure.Could be leaking and running to the rear making it look like the rear main is leaking.BTDT. 
.Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo
There's also a core plug at the back of the cam. If that fell out, leaks galore when you fire up the engine.
