The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 235 front crank seal

Can a new one be tapped in from the front? Or does the timing cover have to come off?

Understand that I need to inspect the balance and sleeve it if necessary.

Nathan - Yes, you can tap in a new front crank seal into the timing cover without removing the cover from the engine. Yes, you have to remove the balancer and knowing our old engines, a sleeve will likely be needed and is a good idea to have one ready at hand.

The same speedy sleeve that fits a small block V8 also works on a stovebolt balancer. The better quality repair sleeve kits include a small vial of red LocTite to bond the sleeve to the balancer snout firmly.
Jerry

A side note.
Remove the radiator first.
Notice I did not say, " I recommend that you remove the radiator."
I am Telling y'all to remove the radiator first. No sugar.
I dang near ruined a rare Desert Cooler radiator tryin to cut corners. I got lucky because I know one of the few radiator repair gurus still alive.

10-4!

New cover seal is in. New motor mount is under the engine. Not an easy job. Don’t want to do it again any time soon.

1) Repair sleeve is on the balancer. The install tool bottoms out when the flange is probably 1/8 inch from the balancer face. I guess that’s the way it’s supposed to be? It doesn’t seem to be a tear-away flange like some others I’ve used.

If it drove it on much further, it wouldn’t cover the groove anyway.

2) I don’t have time or the tools to drill/tap the crank. It’s going to get hammered on. Would it be a bad idea to heat it to make it slide on easier?

Stick the balancer in the oven for a while at 250-300F, then it should go on pretty easily. Maybe wait till the little lady is away before using her oven. We'd like to have you around for a while.

I might just use the pellet grill. I will catch some grief for that, too. But much less.

My plan was to do the rear mounts at the same time. That’s gonna have to wait. Getting to the driver side mount bolts looks like a real treat.

Be sure to drive a hardwood wedge between the clutch cover and the back of the bellhousing, to avoid damaging the crankshaft thrust bearing while you're using a BFH on that balancer. Just drop the dust cover under the flywheel and wedge the crankshaft full forward.
Jerry

Using the snout tool Jerry mentioned makes tapping the crankshaft bolt a ten-minute job. I have one if you need it.

I might take you up on that someday. I got it done with the heat and best method. I didn’t think to block the rear like Jerry suggested. Truck ran fine yesterday on a long drive. Hope I didn’t damage it.

By the way, I let the balancer heat to roughly 180 degrees on the grill. That was over an hour at 250 grill temp. That is not hot enough for easy installation.

If you want to use it, just pay the shipping both ways and you can borrow it. It takes about 5 minutes once you get open access to the snout. It has the snout tool, drill bit and tap.