Posted by gtk on Thursday, September 04, 2003 at 10:21PM :
In Reply to: Re: 230 Rear main seal install question posted by Matt Wilson on Thursday, September 04, 2003 at 1:59PM :
I'm in the process of putting my 230 back together (did the plastigauge check last night) You didn't mention what year the engine is from. The rear mains on 1940 to 1953 engines use the "rope" type seal that bolts to the back part of the cap. Three 1/4 bolts for the top and three on the bottom. Their is also two pieces of "h" shaped rubber gaskets that fit inside the rear cap to prevent leakage. You must remove the cap to replace those "h" gaskets. On 1954 engines the cap design was changed and a rubber lip type seal that is pressed on the upper and lower half is used. Cap needs to be removed for replacement. It also has the two "h" shaped rubber gaskets, but the are different than those used on the earlier caps. On the earlier caps the "h" is straight up and down, on the later the "h" leans over. It you see them side by side you understand what I mean. My gasket set had an improved Felpro rear seal for the earlier style cap, basically the rubber lip seal type to replace the rope type and it just bolted on. I don't think you can interchange caps between pre and post '53 models. As Matt noted some guys have used a later style seal on the earlier caps. I would question this without seeing how well the "h" seals fit with the other gasket. On mine, using the Felpro improved version, it was pretty obvious some engineering was done so everything fit together. If you want some photos email me as I am taking pics for an upcoming article on my website.
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