The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks Replacing Rear Main Seal

OK- so in the pursuit to get the engine painted on our 64 C10- (engine still in the frame technically) we have removed all we can- and removed the oil pan (had to raise the front of the engine 3-1/2" to get it out-

The question is- now that it is this far down- (see photo bucket link) How difficult is is to replace the rear main seal? The manual states that I can do this without removing the crankshaft but I think I remember reading a post that mentioned having to remove the oil pump and dropping the crankshaft down to get to this seal- Is it possible to do this "by the book" and not drop the crankshaft? Any thoughts?

My thoughts are: You should tell us what motor you have. I didn't see any motor pic's in your photobucket. An early SBC rear main seal can be removed without dropping the crank. My other thoughts are: If you already have the pan off; you might as well check the bearings, pull the crank, drop the pistons, bore the block, new cam....hahaha

Engine or Motor

Motors are electric.

Sorry for the omission- the engine is a 292.

5Wests- that is precisly the thought process that got me to this point in the game- this was supposed to be a nice father son "rolling" repair/resto process that would have allowed us to drive the truck while we did this and that to it...

Technicality...yes motors are electric. I fault my father. He drove 18 wheelers for 43 years and still says motor. I find it hard to not go deeper into a project than originally planned. I mean; once this part is off it'd be easier to get to that part.

The 292 should have a 2-piece lip seal that rolls out and back in pretty easily by simply removing the rear main bearing cap and loosening the other caps a couple of turns of the bolts to let the crankshaft drop a few thousandths of an inch. Some manuals reccomend staggering the parting line of the seal a little, rolling it about 1/4" off-center with the bearing cap parting line to prevent a leak where the cap meets the block. Retorque the main bearings, reinstall the oil pan, and you're good to go.
Jerry

Thanks- I'm going to have at it tonight. I'll let you know how it goes- plan on getting the block painted this weekend as well- we'll see how that goes!

First of all- thank you everybody who was able to provide input- Not sure why I was so freaked out by the process of changing the rear seal- It's done now- After pulling the bearing cap- the upper seal half slid out kinda easily- Sliding the new one in was a little bit tough but now that I think about it- it should have been. bearing cap was re-installed after the bottom seal was installed and torqued to 70footpounds- Here is what the old seal looked like:
http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w497/slawnski/1964%20chevy%20c-10%20Montana/8a276604.jpg

and the new one:

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w497/slawnski/1964%20chevy%20c-10%20Montana/51e2c3a6.jpg

and the old one being slid out:

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w497/slawnski/1964%20chevy%20c-10%20Montana/17e52045.jpg

as I look at the old one- it looks pretty good- not sure if this was the source of the puddles under the engine- but at least I have a new seal now... tomorrow we tackle painting the block and engine items that get painted the same color as the block...going out to continue cleaning it now...

http://i1078.photobucket.com/albums/w497/slawnski/1964%20chevy%20c-10%20Montana/bfb9d8ce.jpg

Thanks again guys!

BTW- the bearing cap that held the seal was the only one I removed- I did not have to loosen any of the other caps- which I am relieved I didn't have to do...

Loosening thr other caps makes it a bunch easier to install the new seal. Then the lip gets compressed as you retitghten the mains. Not absolutely necessary, but well worth the extra effort!
Jerry