Well that is a good thought Stuart... makes sense to me. The original shop manual makes no reference to putting stuff on the end of the rope (not that they had RTV back then, though), so I figured putting a drop on there would be good "insurance" that the rope wouldn't leak at the joint where the two halves mate up. I've also heard the tip of offsetting the rope joint so one seam is in the block half, and the other seam is in the bearing cap. Anyway, I'm willing to try leaving the rope ends as they are...

But what do you make of the instructions about putting sealant on the cap-to-block mating surfaces? That seems dangerous to me.

Last edited by gjberche; 05/21/2008 1:14 AM.
Greg
1954 Chevy 1/2 Ton