As mentioned earlier, my rear main is dry as an old bone in the desert sun, that is, as of
right now. Machining the rear of the block for a single lip seal would fall under major
service operation. That taint an easy fix.
One of the prime reasons the rope seals leaked was that the fabric was only impregnated
with a graphite compound and it wasn’t resilient. Once hammered in place by the crank
the diameter was pretty much set. Any clearance in the bearing meant there was a gap in
the seal. As soon as a few thousands of an inch of wear developed at the rear bearing this
gap at the seal will drip oil. Of course the physical design behind a lip seal backed up by a
tension spring would compensate for any main bearing clearance.
But, there is a rope seal being sold now, I believe it’s made by best, that I think is
impregnated with rubber and is somewhat resilient and it seems to keep that gap closed
up even when the rear main starts getting loose. My old buddy Pete was just talking about
ordering one the other day for a 216 that he’s rebuilding.
Nope Tommy, won’t go as far as using those red or blue sillycones on my engine, but, I
will be going back to gluing every thing that gets stuck back on with the old standard for
a hundred years now, i.e., Permatex.
I haven't run a 235 in a vehicle for about 45 years. Last one I had was in my 60 Chevy
Biscayne and that was not a dripper. The shorter side cover has to help with that source
and eliminating the slots in the Rocker Cover no doubt got rid of another one plus the
four screws over the two central nut was another improvement which carried on into the
present day V8s.
Yeah, I’ve used all of it in the past Alvin, but like I posted, I’ve been into this minimalist
mind set the last few years and now it’s catching up with me. Gonna have to go back to
my old way of thinking. Funny how we get into a certain mind set and then take it to the
extreme. I do that a lot lately, part of my being so picky about the little details. I’m so
dang hung up on doing everything just like they did it at the factory that I often forget
about the practical side of things.
And oh yeah checked all the screws, nuts and bolts numerous times. When we see one of
these Stovebolts that has been in service for half a century, that’s the reason why all the
tin is warped all over the place. They leak like a sieve so the screw keep getting buried
deeper and deeper into the hole till the sealing surface ends up looking like the edge of a
potato chip.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
