Paul,
Bob Adler has posted a excellent treatise on rear main seal installation
at Chevytrucks.org. Bob has little use for the shadetree method described
below, but If you absolutely must avoid removing the crank, an acceptable
repair can be made as follows:
You can sneak in the upper half of the seal after loosening all the
main caps to let the crank drop down a little. Requires a "Upper Rear Main
Oil Seal Remover and Installer" tool from NAPA, part #KD 492. This kit
also has pieces included which allow installation of a neoprene seal. With
the motor on a stand you will need a friend to rotate the crank as you
remove the old seal and feed in the new one. This is a rather delicate
operation, but will work if done carefully. I recently did it on my GMC and
it has held up well. I was losing a lot of oil and it's now leak-free. The
old seal was in shreds.
I have never replaced a front seal with the cover in place, although the
shop manual says it can be done using a "claw-type" puller to remove the
old seal. Of course the damper pulley must come off first. I would go ahead
and remove the timing cover (pan has to come off first, unless your engine
has had the front main cap drilled and tapped for 3/8" cap screws - a sly
trick to avoid pan removal next time). You can examine the crank snout for
wear at the seal line and if needed install a repair sleeve. The seal is
easy to install with the cover off.
Jack / Winter Park FL
----- Original Message -----
From: <Hudson29@aol.com>
To: <oletrucks@autox.team.net>
Sent: Monday, June 28, 1999 5:06 PM
Subject: [oletrucks] 235 Rear Main Seal
> I was reading through the '58 shop manual to see about installing a
> new front and rear main seal in a '59 235. The motor is out on the engine
> stand right now and is easy to get at so this seemed a good time to do it.
> The manual says that only the lower half of the rear main seal can be
> replaced without removing the crank.
> Is this really so? The local auto parts house supplied a nice moulded
> set that I had rather thought I could sneak around the crank somehow. How
> about the front seal? Can it be replaced without pulling the timing cover?
>
> Paul O'Neil, Hudson29@aol.com
> 1951 Chevrolet 3600 Pickup Project, See it at:
> The Poor Man's Advanced Design Tech Tips Page
> http://home.earthlink.net/~conntest47/
> Fullerton, California USA
> AEROMARK - Need Rubber Stamps or Signs? See:
> http://hometown.aol.com/hudson29/myhomepage/index.html
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
>
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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