[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.

[Gach]

God it’s like you can’t catch a break, most important thing is rear main seal still looking good. Really happy for you

[dataway]

I don't know ... I'd venture a guess that the lock washer is either part of the damage, or a coincidence. I'd keep my eye open for another piece of missing hardware ... or tool.

I've dropped a lot of things into spinning machinery .. that's a lot of damage for something of that small of a mass.

My latest was only a couple of weeks ago, my magnetic Milwaukee work light (the funny looking triangle shaped one) fell off the underside of my hood and into the fan at high idle ... knocked it all the way across the shop. Didn't even bend a fan blade and the light appears to have no damage. I'm guess the fan clutch is what prevented an explosion of plastic and a bent blade.

[HWYSTR455]

Do fan bolts even get lock washers?

That sux. Yeah, can't get a break! BUT. Once you hash thru all this crap, it will be pure enjoyment!



.

[Verdoro 68]

You’d think it was something bigger, but the remaining fragment of washer fits perfectly in the damaged areas of the radiator and there are some dings on the pulley to match the hood. As near as I can tell, it broke into three pieces with one staying behind under the bolt and two hitting the radiator.

I looked up the factory diagram last night and it’s supposed to have studs from the water pump and slotted nuts but not lock washers. The repro kits are sold with regular nuts and lock washers. What’s the safest setup to run?

I’ve been running grade 8 bolts and washers there for years without a problem. Here’s the funny part - I lost a bolt and washer when I was putting it back together. The only bolt I misplaced in all the times I’ve taken this apart! I picked up some replacements at the hardware store, but they were out of grade 8 washers so I grabbed grade 5 instead - guess what failed?

Fortunately Summit had Cold Case radiators in stock so I should have a replacement by Monday or Tuesday. I just don’t want to wreck the new one with bad hardware again.

[Sirrotica]

Grade 5 is what the factory used, in almost all general fasteners. I would surmize that the lock washer was imported garbage, not that it wasn't grade 8. GM used lock washers almost exclusively on fan bolts, but I have seen star washers used under the fan fasteners by some other manufacturers. I won't trust any hardware that comes from china. Id rather pick thru my used hardware, than to trust chinesium hardware.

You can fix that radiator with JB weld, as long as you get it dry, and clean, before applying it. Let it set up for 24 hours before filling the radiator with coolant. Your car, but I've never had an aluminum radiator repair fail using JB weld. I've used it on my own cars for fan damaged core tubes, and the car went to the scrap yard with the radiator still sealed many years later.

Some videos using JB weld on radiators:
https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...or+wit+JB+weld