[lust4speed]

Boy, this wrecked my flawless record of installing seals that didn't leak. The new graphite seal made it through the break-in run and a few subsequent starts while I did some tuning. Then today I find melted strands of seal on the pavement. Just to be sure, I cleaned up the cement and ran it for another five minutes. A few more strands and a spray of oil on the clean cement, and a few drips from the rear main. The previous asbestos rope seal was in the car for twenty years and survived. Nothing was done to the crank or the seal area. I followed directions with the cutting and all went well, I also coated the rope with assembly lube prior to setting the crank. Anyone else melt one of these, or am I "special"?

In fairness, I have always slightly preloaded the old asbestos seals rather than just drop them in the groove, and something tells me that the graphite doesn't tolerate as much pressure as the old ones.