[jhein]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

Dare I say it, I'm calling the short block done! Hopefully this seal doesn't give me any trouble when I fire it up.

That's great to hear. I'm eager to see you get this motor done. I hope it turns out awesome 'cause you've earned it for sure.

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

The BOP was never going to work properly with those serrations.

The Viton seal clearly works well for a lot of folks with serrated cranks, but it seems like the graphite seal is much more of a sure bet. It's also surprisingly easy to install compared to the BOP seals. In hindsight, I should have skipped the two piece experiment and just gone straight for the graphite seal, but I was following Butler and BOP's recommendations.

Originally Posted by jhein

That's great to hear. I'm eager to see you get this motor done. I hope it turns out awesome 'cause you've earned it for sure.

I'm eager to see it done too! It's been almost a year since I pulled it from the car. It took 5 months to get the rotating assembly. The heads have been at the shop for 10 months. Patience is a virtue these days. I've been using the extra time to make sure I've got everything buttoned up and dialed in as best I can.

Reading through past threads, I do get anxious about potential failures. I've tried to do my homework and pick up the most reliable parts in addition to keeping things as spotless as I can and well lubricated during assembly (I love that Redline assembly lube!). Definitely appreciate the advice here.

Over my 30 year ownership of this car there have been 4 different builds. The first two lasted a couple years each because I cheaped out on parts and slapped things together. The third lasted about 8 years while detonation slowly killed it. The last build made it 10 years, but it was clearly hobbling along after it ate the valve stem seals early on in its life. Each build and subsequent dissection gave me some more knowledge to work from.

Time will tell how this thing holds together, but I'm hoping to get some longevity out of this incarnation. I've got the engine compartment all cleaned up and detailed, new wiring installed and the rebuilt trans ready to go. Just waiting on the heads now.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

The Viton seal clearly works well for a lot of folks with serrated cranks, but it seems like the graphite seal is much more of a sure bet. It's also surprisingly easy to install compared to the BOP seals. In hindsight, I should have skipped the two piece experiment and just gone straight for the graphite seal, but I was following Butler and BOP's recommendations.

Well....yes and no. You also have to ask yourself how often people are actually driving these things to get any real world results for comparison sake.

Driving something 1,000 miles a year for the last few years doesn't amount to much as that is honestly just sitting most of the time. Chances of a leak are minimized.
If someone wants to call that a success, well then I guess

Fact is though, a rubber seal like that is designed for a nice smooth surface. If you look at OEM cranks that use seals like that from the factory, you won't find serrations that I've ever seen. They are smooth and polished. At a minimal, using those seals on a serrated crank, the serrations should be polished to some degree to knock down the sharp edges, otherwise they will tend to grab those seals over time and chew away at them.

I would take a guess that success stories with a rubber seal and serrated crank or more than likely on 50 year old used cranks that are already pretty well smooth from 200,000 miles of a rope seal rubbing on it.
That brand new crank you had with fresh serrations, as it was, I wouldn't think would be long for this world with a rubber seal on it.

I feel you went the right direction and fingers crossed it gives you years of trouble free service. I like the build and exactly how I'd do it if I had those parts laying around.