[Gach]

I feel your pain it’s very frustrating. It’s good that you walked away for a couple days. A lot of credit goes out to you being so diligent.

[Formulas]

dont forget to clean that crankshaft real good a few times ...

[HWYSTR455]

Some people intentionally prefer slightly larger clearances, it makes up for 'not perfect' machine work, and kind of depends on how good a machine shop you use is. 'Not perfect' tolerances can stack up quick and catch even good builders off guard.


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[Verdoro 68]

Received the King HP bearings, they look like jewelry compared to all the other sets of bearings I have. They're going to slightly open up my clearances to an average of .0026. Due to my journals being out of round (#3 journal is the worst) the clearance opens up to .0030 on on the passenger side of the journal. The #1 journal is also a little tighter in the front (.0020) vs the rear (.0024). Plastigage confirmed all my dial bore measurements, although not quite as accurate. I really regret not having the journals checked when it was in for machine work and wonder if it could be contributing to the way it's been eating rear mains. I guess we'll see. I double and triple checked the rear main sealing surface and the diameter of the seal. I'm spot in within the .025 -/+ .005 recommendation.

I figured this is all about as good as it's going get so I cleaned the crank really well, snaked the new seal on, dropped it in and torqued down the mains with the help of my son. I followed up by doing the same on the rods with a fresh set of Clevite bearings. I'm seeing about 22-25 ft/lbs to rotate the bottom end with everything torqued and assembly lube on the bearings. That's right in line with what it was the first time I put it together.

Anyway, some pics of the assembly and my bearing collection. I can say that I'm intimately familiar with this rotating assembly and block now. Thanks for hanging with me.

[Gach]

When you say journals are you talking rod or mains ?

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by Gach

When you say journals are you talking rod or mains ?

Main journals in the block. Rods are perfect.

[b-man]

Tip test the rear main seal ?

[Verdoro 68]

Originally Posted by b-man

Tip test the rear main seal ?

Definitely. After I get the pan on and such.

The one piece failed the test when I originally put the engine together which is why I used the graphite seal. I new know it’s because I installed it wrong. Got Wade’s thumbs up on this prep and install so we’ll see how it fares this time.

[Gach]

Originally Posted by Verdoro 68

Main journals in the block. Rods are perfect.

Well having those Journals out of around certainly didn’t help. Good luck hope it all turns out good.

[grandam1979]

I personally would forget about that tip test stuff do you ever plan on parking on a 45° angle? My guess is if you do that test with the Viton it’s going to drip being flooded with oil and you won’t be happy.

[78w72]

The tip test isnt about parking on a 45 angle... it shows how good the seal is on rear main that should be able to handle a tip test for a few hours or overnight, even works on pinion seals on rear ends...

i had my local shop install the center section & gears on a 10 bolt rear, had it sitting on jack stands with a slight tip towards the front pinion, after a day or 2 it left a few small drops on the ground, i asked a few friends that said it will be fine since youre never loading fluid on it like a tip test... i called the shop to see what they said, they told me to bring it back as it should not leak when tipped, they replaced it for free, I tipped it at more of an angle for awhile before install and it was dry.
While running, the oil on a rear or engine is plashed all around from normal use, especially on hard acceleration, braking or cornering.

[dataway]

Let mine sit like that for about two days with a BOP one piece, didn't leak a drop. So far with few hours run time on the engine not a drop on the ground or rear main area.

[Verdoro 68]

I've been carefully reassembling things the last few days. Got the pan on, sealed the corners with Ultra Black and let it set for 24 hours to ensure the sealant was cured. I filled the engine with oil and tipped it back to check for leaks. After a few hours I noticed a little bit of oil collected on the crank flange which was disheartening. I wiped it off, hand cranked the engine over a few times thinking maybe it would help the seal seat on the crank and let it sit overnight.

I was expecting to see a few drops this morning, but was happy and surprised to see no drips at all. I'd call this first test a success. Fingers crossed things stay this way.

[Gach]

GREAT! That’s definitely a good sign.

[Verdoro 68]

Dropped it back in yesterday, got everything buttoned up and fired it up this evening.

Initial signs are positive! It appears the rear main seal made it past initial fire up as the area is dry and I haven't seen any indication of oil yet - knock on wood. Time will tell as it did with the other seals. Oil pressure is great, idle is smooth and there weren't any weird sounds. We'll see what the next oil change brings as far as the new bearings, but hopefully the third time is the charm.

Fire up video: https://youtu.be/ryKDcFKq3aE

[Gach]

So far so good man it was a lot of work. Keep your fingers crossed. Nice car ! Actually Beautiful.

[jhein]

That's great! Your perseverance is impressive. That motor looks fantastic and sounds awesome. I can't wait to hear about you driving it. I think that motor will kick some a--.

[Verdoro 68]

I'm not sure how much more persistence I have in me for this problem. I had more time than usual to sort this out because I took the Summer off of work, but if I had my preference I would have been driving this thing around instead.

I have learned a lot throughout this experience. I'm certainly capable of assembling a full engine now and I couldn't say that a couple years ago. I'm still not sure exactly what I did wrong with the last seal. I never heard back from Best Seal with a diagnosis and I've heard conflicting opinions from folks (packed too tight, not packed enough). My money is on packed too tight when torqued. I tried to leave no stone unturned with this latest attempt by measuring everything again, checking all the tolerances, polishing the serrations and consulting with Wade on the install. Fingers crossed!

A positive side effect of this latest disassembly is that I found that some intake ports were significantly misaligned with the ports on the heads. This gave me an opportunity to fix the alignment so it's almost perfect now. We'll see if it runs any better when I get it out on the road.

Oddly, the issue with the timing light spazzing out with the Pertronix II and Taylor wires I posted about a while ago is back. I had to set the timing with a factory reproduction plug wire on #1. It seemed like I had that solved with the Pertronix III before the seal blew out last time so I'm not sure what changed.

[Gach]

I mean who really knows, have to wait and see how the One piece seal works out, sounds real good so far….that will answer some obvious questions was rope to lose initially then to tight on second go around. You deserve a lot of credit for your patience. Allot would’ve given up and handed it off to some shop.

[Verdoro 68]

Took it for a test drive, the good news: the rear main is still dry!

The bad news: I was cruising and heard a loud pop. Car still ran fine, vitals were good so I kept going. It almost sounded like it was suspension. When I got home I opened the hood and found my reliable Cold Case radiator spewing coolant towards the fan. It appears a lock washer from one of the fan bolts exploded and took out the radiator. There's a scar on the underside of the hood and a remaining piece of the lock washer fell when I took the fan off. Freak thing, but par for the course.

At least this is much easier to fix than the rear main.