I've used a lot of the Best Gasket rope type seals, not one has ever leaked. It's nothing like the seals that come in the gaskets sets these days. The first one I ever installed was packed in like like the old Fel-Pro gaskets were, I followed the service manual procedure. The engine was a 462 cubic inch V8. It ran for a 20 minute break-in and a little while longer for the tune up checked. I shut it down and tried to restart it, no go, locked up solid! I put it in the garage frustrated, next day it fired right up and ran, it would not turn over again when hot. I pulled the pan and rear seal out, I found the rear of the crank was hot with a thermo-heat gun, that's why I pulled the seal. I installed another Best Gasket seal but followed their instructions, this time it worked like a charm, never leaked and never got hot again.
When installing them now, I use the crankshaft to seat the seal. I install the seal in the block then set the crank in in place and take a soft rubber hammer and whack it a few good times to form the seal. Take the crank back out, carefully remove the seal, add the second piece and repeat. The first piece goes into the cap, trim the ends just a Best suggests and don't add oil, grease, or sealer to the seal surface.
Last edited by Joe H; 03/11/2026 1:30 PM.
