I recently got done rebuilding the 239 in my 47, Every thing turned out great except the rear main seal. All the new gasket kits have that "new improved" Teflon seal, even with the little roll pin in the cap, I went through three sets of that stuff. It kept trying to spin. I finally found some "old school" rope packing for it. have not had any problems since, Is this a common problem or was I just being stupid?
Push'n Rope
- Thread starter lameyer
- Start date
tubman
Well-known member
I have done two engines over the last year. I used Fel-Pro gaskets on both of them. The pan gasket set comes with a guide that allows you to trim the rope seal sufficiently "proud". I used it in both cases. On the first engine, I thought I had a slight rear seal leak, but it turned out to be a bad oil drain plug gasket. Both engines are completely dry underneath. The first has a traditional rope front seal, while the second has a one piece seal. The latter was installed by the machine shop who did the assembly of the short block. From the looks of it, they had access to a sleeve and seal I don't seem to be able to find in my catalogs. Neither one has leaked a drop yet.
The gasket sets come with two different type seals. The white Teflon and a black seal. After a couple of problems with the Teflon ones I found Fel-Pro's site and they say not to soak the Teflon type before assembly as it will cause the fibers to break down. Coated them with engine assembly lube before installing. No leaks. They don't need to be trimmed on a 8BA.
tubman
Well-known member
I think you may be right about this now; however, my gasket sets were purchased 10 or 15 years ago and needed to be trimmed.