VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 1950 Oil Pan Add-On

After looking more closely at the situation, my question is; do I have to disconnect the "Inner Ball Studs" from the "Steering Idler and Third Arm Bracket Assembly?
Thanks Again.

Nope

When you pull down the idler arm bracket off the crossmember there will be plenty of room.Works best with wheels free as the linkage can drop down farther and the wheels cock the way they wish freely.There could be a spacer shim between the idler arm top bracket and the frame- be aware of it and reinstall it if your car has one.Also there must be a shake proof washer under the top bolt to prevent it from loosening.

If you are replacing the top half of the seal good luck.Almost impossible to pull in place.If I ever redo mime (did replace the lower half) I plan on leaving the top half in place and packing the ends deeper in to the block.Then stuffing a piece of old seal into the gap.The complete operation is explained in the Oldsmobile shop manual -1980's versions, for sealing the rear main on the Olds 307 and 350 engines.There was an article in the G&D several years back refering to it and the fact that it could also be done on the rope seal 216 -early 235 Chevs. Often you will find rust on the flange of the crankshaft that the seal rides on.If not polished off will tear up a new seal.

Too much bearing clearance will also promote oil leakage.The bearing can be tightened or adjusted by shim removal.Adjusted by using Plastigage (weight of crankshaft must be supported) or by the "drag" method.About .001" clearance is desireable.

Thanks Again Chevgene.
I just came in from re-installing the head. I still have to do the rocker arm adjustments,etc. I still have alot of work to do.

Chevgene

Could you give a little more detail about the Olds way of repairing rear main seals. Your method seems much easier than the one in the 61/62 Chevy shop manual.

I will post from the 1984 Oldsmobile shop manual that I have.I had a few of the Olds 307 engines and all would develope a small rear main leak after 100,000 miles.

REAR MAIN BEARING UPPER OIL SEAL -REPLACE-(ENGINE IN CAR)
Remove oil pan and rear main bearing cap.With packing tool #BT-6432 or J-25282-2 drive both sides of the old seal gently into the groove until it is packed tight (its the end's of the seal that they are refering to).Measure the amount the seal was driven up on the side,add 1/16" ,then cut this length from the old seal that was removed from the lower main bearing cap.Repeat for both sides.Cut old seal with a razor blade ...use main bearing cap as a holding fixture when cutting seal...Work these two pieces into the cylinder block (one on each side) with two small screw drivers.Using packing tool ,pack these short pieces up into the block and trim seal flush with block using a sharp blade.Use a piece of shim stock to protect crankshaft while triming.Place a drop of GM #1050026 sealer or equivalent on end of each seal and cap.Bolt down cap.

The packing tool that they are refering to looks like a blunt ended tool.Could cut the tip off of a common screw driver and use it.Should be close to-but not larger-than than the size of the end of the installed seal.

From my experiance the modern replacement rope seals are of poor quality.Seem to wear away quickly.Also heard the same comment from an engine rebuilder.I found some NOS Geneuine chevrolet seals on Ebay that I will be using in the future.839129 or 3835774 is the parts numbers for the good NOS seals-if you can find
one.

This was described in the G&D years back -Believe the article was by Bob Adler-the truck guru

Thanks much Chevgene.