I made a tool from an old piston to press/roll the rope seal into the groove in both the block and the rear main bearing cap, but the crankshaft was removed and the engine was on an assembly stand when we did that. You could do that with the lower seal half if you're installing the seal in an engine that's still in the vehicle. The diameter of the seal surface is 3 7/8" if you want to make a seal packing tool that diameter. Back in the 1950's most car dealer service departments had similar tools for shaping rope seals.

Yes, when we installed the Best seal in John's 261 we drilled the center of the main bearing cap for the anti-rotate pin.
Jerry

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