It has been a long time in the making, but last week my dad and I finished up the rear main seal replacement on our '54 235. We used a "Best Gaskets" rope seal, Fel-Pro on the timing cover, pushrod cover and oil pan. We also used a Speedi-sleeve on the balancer, as it was nicely grooved. In the process we replaced the front engine mount, a few clips on the front grille, plug wires, vaccuum advance mechanism, and a few other small hardware bits.
All this is good, but the great news for our '54 is that after two extended "around the neighborhood" drives, there is not a single drop of oil coming out from the front, pan, or the hole in the flywheel inspection cover (which is what started this whole mess).
I know it may take some miles before things set in better, and perhaps we'll see some more leakage down the road, but for now, she seems as dry as could be! So, I'm really excited about that!
Now, I just need to figure out why the engine wants to hesitate off idle. She seems to run better with the choke out a bit. That is a question for another day, and I've already seen a lot about hesitation posted here already.
So thanks for your help and suggestions thus far. Maybe my post will be of some encouragement to someone. Thanks.
