Brett,
I know the early gearboxes used a "scroll seal" at the front. The hole
in the bell housing is threaded, and the clearance is very small. Any
gear oil that splashes up there adheres to the input shaft because of
the tight clearance and its own viscosity, and is essentially screwed
back into the box by the turning shaft.
This does not work if the level of the oil reaches the scroll, but this
could only happen if the gearbox were severely tilted forward.
Don't know whether or when they switched to a rubber seal. If there are
no fresh major oil tracks in the bell housing running down from this
opening, I'd advise leaving it alone.
Bill Kelly
'62 Herald
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