Transmission Gear shaft seal

[ampico-kid]

Working through some oil leak issues with my 30 Town Sedan. I'm a new Burtz Block engine recipient and thoroughly enjoying the driving experience with the new engine. But now I have to deal with a few remaining issues with the car, one of which is an oil leak at the transmission. At least some of the oil is coming from the gear shaft retainer plate, and I noticed a few parts vendors selling a seal kit for it. BUT....looking at the pictures that "Mikes" has posted on his website (see attached photo) it looks like something is different about my gear shafts. The illustration on Mike's show the shafts as half round, but mine has one that's half round and one that's totally round. It doesn't appear that the seal kit will work with that round shaft. Anyone have any experience with these aftermarket seal kits? Or maybe a better way to stop the leaking oil? I'm using 600W oil and the leak is slow, but still leaking. Thanks.



Photo of my cover plate/retainer

 

[Tom Endy]

The device sold by the suppliers will fit the back of your transmission. Remove the center bolt and lock washer and discard both. The device will come with a bolt and an oil seal washer. Straighten the lock plate so it is perpendicular to the two shafts. Clean off the paint and crud on the boss on the housing at the two shafts and apply some sealer to the casting and install.

The bolt seen in the photo to the right of the center bolt is one of six retaining bolts for the U-joint housing. It is installed backwards. Only the very top bolt should face in the direction shown, the other five bolts should be the other way. This should not have any effect on the transmission fixture installation.

If you ever have the transmission overhauled install a new cluster shaft and idler shaft with ones that have been modified with an O-ring and you won't need the device. Modified shafts are all that most suppliers carry.

Tom Endy

 

[ampico-kid]

The device sold by the suppliers will fit the back of your transmission. Remove the center bolt and lock washer and discard both. The device will come with a bolt and an oil seal washer. Straighten the lock plate so it is perpendicular to the two shafts. Clean off the paint and crud on the boss on the housing at the two shafts and apply some sealer to the casting and install.

The bolt seen in the photo to the right of the center bolt is one of six retaining bolts for the U-joint housing. It is installed backwards. Only the very top bolt should face in the direction shown, the other five bolts should be the other way. This should not have any effect on the transmission fixture installation.

If you ever have the transmission overhauled install a new cluster shaft and idler shaft with ones that have been modified with an O-ring and you won't need the device. Modified shafts are all that most suppliers carry.

Tom Endy

Thanks Tom!! I'm thinking now that the "seal" has impressions in the mating surface side (not visible in the drawing) for the two shafts and lock plate to fit into. So the "seal" would basically sit over top of, and encapsulate, all three of these openings in the transmission. That would make sense now that I think about it. Thanks for your guidance. Bob

 

[Marshall V. Daut]

Because of the cotter pin's orientation, you will need to rotate the bolt and nut to clear the new seal cover. The seal cover is a bit tricky to install anyway, but that cotter pin head will definitely cause you problems. You might be able to simply turn the bolt with a wrench without the need to remove the cotter pin. They can be a bear to reinstall once the nut has moved a bit on the threads while the bolt is turned. The nut is taller than the bolt head, consequently it sticks out farther and could complicate installing the seal cover. So, you may even need to swap the bolt around, as Tom suggests, to get the clearance you need in those tight quarters.
Marshall

 

[ampico-kid]

Because of the cotter pin's orientation, you will need to rotate the bolt and nut to clear the new seal cover. The seal cover is a bit tricky to install anyway, but that cotter pin head will definitely cause you problems. You might be able to simply turn the bolt with a wrench without the need to remove the cotter pin. They can be a bear to reinstall once the nut has moved a bit on the threads while the bolt is turned. The nut is taller than the bolt head, consequently it sticks out farther and could complicate installing the seal cover. So, you may even need to swap the bolt around, as Tom suggests, to get the clearance you need in those tight quarters.
Marshall

Thanks for the heads up. Waiting for the seal to arrive and begin the installation.