Hi, new to the forum and somewhat new to y-blocks, I just purchased a 1957 Fairlane 500, original 292 with I think 119k original miles. The rear seal is leaking and wondering how hard it will be to change with the motor still in the car or should I take it out. the car has been sitting for sometime and probably why the seal is leaking.

Any suggestions would be helpful. thank you and great site.


DGMFORD
1955 F100
1957 Ford Fairlane 500

Welcome to  the Site. Your Car is simply marking its Territory just like a Dog. These Seals leaked from the Day these Cars were new. It can be changed in the Car but You might want to check the rest of the Engine for any other Problems. Is it in running Condition? As far as the rear main Seal there are much improved replacements available. They don't always fix the Problem. Most of the Time its because they weren't installed correctly.

  

thank you, it does run good, no noise, needs a tune up and oil change, only had a couple weeks, the brakes are dead, so need to replace the master before I can drive and see how she really is. Maybe a bit of driving my slow down the leak.
thanks for the response.


DGMFORD
1955 F100
1957 Ford Fairlane 500

If you have oil on the drivers side of the pan and or engine it is not the rear main seal.

Lou is correct. You should give the Engine a good cleaning and try to verify where the Oil is coming from. If its been sitting, Gaskets and Seals can dry out. 

  

good idea, I plan on going through it this weekend sometime. Thanks again.

DGMFORD
1955 F100
1957 Ford Fairlane 500

All the above is good advice. One comment. I don't know if they were made for the 292, but Best Gasket made some "orange" seals for the 312. They are silicon, not neoprene. They fail in 500 or so miles. I just changed mine, motor in car, in my 312. Might be some NOS laying around, and might be some for 292's. Someone will know. If it comes to that, don't use one.

miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ

Neoprene rear mean seals are readily available for the Ford 292 engines from a variety of different manufacturers.  These can be installed with the engine in the car.
 
If getting the neoprene type seal from a run of the mill parts store, the 292 seals are likely all that will be available.  The FelPro number for the 292 engines is BS 6141.  If going to a specialty parts store that deals primarily with Thunderbirds and older Fords, then rubberized 312 seals are also available and these are a slightly larger diameter than those for the 292.  As miker mentions, Best Gasket did make a orange seal for the 312’s for a short period of time and those do wear out very quickly.  Best Gasket has since changed out the material in the 312 seal to the same material used in the 292 seal which makes the two seals look almost identical but because of sizing differences, they are not interchangeable.  Best Gasket has tried to get all those orange seals back in their hands but there are still some out there; those seals were for the 312 engines only.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Ted, Best Gasket's website currently shows a red brick colored "rubber" 312 y-block rear main seal, part number 3A52. Is this the good 312 y-block part number now?

Explain further?





54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ