I just wanted to let all who are interested know that I was able to successfully repair the rear main seal leak in my 59 Apache 235 with the engine in place. I was able to use the Felpro orange colored neoprene seal.
Basically, I followed the procedure outlined in the Tech section of this site, HOWEVER, it is not as easy as described. It was surely worth doing, yet be sure to study all the threads on this forum closely on what guys have experienced. The following are some suggestions based on what I experienced.
1 - After removal of the rear main cap, and loosening the rest of the caps, I followed the advice of HOTROD LINCOLN on this forum and used two pry bars on the flywheel teeth to get the crank to gap from the old rope seal...just enough, maybe 1/16 of an inch...to use the technique Hotrod Lincoln also suggested, to thread a sheet metal screw into one end of the old seal and pull it out with a pliers. Brilliant!
2 - to loosen the front bearing cap - there are also two 9/16 head bolts which secure the cam cover which need to be removed as well.
3- The bearing caps are secured with big bolts(3/4 inch head) and are torqued with 100 lbs, which was difficult to accomplish from under the vehicle. I was athletically sore for two days after.
4- Don't give up! It's a tough job, but I had to be patient and go back to the instructions a couple of times. It was worth it in the end.
