Here is my experience, replacing the rope seal with the motor in place. I was unable to remove the top seal with the crank in place. I tried backing off the rest of the mains but the transmission would notr allow the crank to drop enough. This was an experiement because I was intending on taking the tranmission off anyway. With the transmission, front cover and flywheel off, you can pull the crank down quite a bit to do the job.
The neoprene seal is not meant for the early motors.
