I got the upper half of the old neoprene seal out very easily by pushing on one side with a small pin punch enough to grab with my fingers on the other side and pull out. It slid out easily. The sealing surface on the crank was not smooth which is why I cleaned it up with some 600 grit, still not perfect. My hope was that the larger sealing surface on the rope seal would leak less. Removing the crank and doing a better repair is not something I want to do right now. I'll be satisfied if I can get the leak to a few drops at each shut-off. I haven't checked the main bearing clearance. I'll have to look and see if I have any plastigauge.
I've had this truck about 12 yrs and do some work on it about every other winter but somehow never thought to check the engine S/N. Looked it up yesterday, the block is a '47 block in this '41 truck. I'm assuming from that, that it is not machined for a neoprene seal.
I have a T-5 transmission with an adapter and the top transmission bolts are socket head cap screws. The top right is very close and my socket got stuck so I had to remove the floor and the hand brake lever to get it loose. Yesterday was grocery day and today was gardening day, hopefully I'll get back in the shop tomorrow.
