I just don't know that there ever is going to be a "good" rope seal for this application. Even with high tech materials you seldom ever find a rope material rated for the number of "feet per minute" present at the crank journal surface. When engineers use this braided rope for a seal - its usually on a packing that has to be preloaded - and sometimes repeatedly preloaded. The runout allowance is not great.

Ted's observation that you have to be pretty sure all of the other potential leak points are taken care of has a lot of merit.

 
 Steve Metzger       Tucson, Arizona

Haha, I never correlated the two before but yes I have seen plenty of "packing that has to be preloaded" on the steam turbines and pumps at work... One of our duties while "doing our rounds" was to "take up on the packing" on the pumps.

Too bad you can't "take up on the packing" on a Y-Block


850 lb. Steam turbine.

Thanks for the memory, Steve

"The Master Cylinder"

Enjoying life at the beach in SOCAL

You are just about making me home sick for work,i had 4 years in the Navy and 30 years working in a steam plants,asbestos has reared its ugly head yet Carl

When I rebuilt my 292 3 years ago I used the "Best" Neoprene seals and Ted's instructions and guess what?It still leaks.I would be interested in hearing about anyones experience with these new Graphite rope seals from Best.Is there anyone out there who's Y-Block does NOT drip at least a few drops?

  

I have many that dont leak a drop, the ones that did I found was pinholes in the breather pipe and stripped oil pan bolts in the rear seal retainer, fixed those and I dont know of any that leak now out of 6 that I have running the roads and woods.

55 Vicky & customline

58 Rack Dump, 55 F350 yard truck, 57 F100

59 & 61 P 400's, 58 F100 custom cab, 69 F100, 79 F150, 82 F600 ramp truck, 90 mustang conv 7 up, 94 Mustang, Should I continue?

And you have never put a rear main seal in any of these?

  

Is there any difference with the Y and Windsor or Cleveland rear mains that would cause them to leak? I never had any problems with rope seals in the latter two when I packed them in well. I've not dealt with the Y rear main and mine leaves a small spot, but nothing I would pull the motor out for.

For one thing the newer Ford engines DON'T use seals on the side of the cap.Most often the repair for the rear main(on the newer motors) was to replace it with a neoprene type because it was easier to install with the engine in the car.The Y was a problem leaker from the start.Just not a good design.One repair I heard about was slipping a piece of Piano Wire behind the rope type to force it tighter against the crank.This was for a used motor repair.

  

I finally got the rope seal installed. The graphite seal is interesting material and I feel that it will do the trick although it wasn't an easy task. I'm still putting the car back together and I just ordered a new radiator so it will be a week or so before I will be able to fire the engine. I'll keep you informed.

Jeff Petersen

292 or 312?

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As I only use neoprene seals in the 292 Y builds and have had very good and positive results with them, I haven’t had to resort to using the available graphite or Teflon rope style of seals in those particular engines. Those 292’s built with the readily available ‘black’ neoprene rear seals have been totally clean and devoid of rear seal leaks. But lots of care goes into making sure that the remaining ‘sore’ spots at the back of the engine are also sealed up.

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Best Gasket has just introduced an improved neoprene seal for the 312 engines which has the same hardness as the 292 seal so that will hopefully take care of the seal wear issues that were taking place with the previously available ‘orange’ seal. That orange seal would initially be okay for about 1500-2000 miles and then it would start to leak. Close examination of the orange seals when removed showed that the material was being slowly worn away simply due to the softness of the material.

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I recently used a graphite rear seal on a Flathead V8 build and was pleasantly surprised that there was absolutely no oil present at the rear of that engine after some hard running. And that engine actually has the lower half of the seal in the groove at the oil pan rather than in a rear main cap or separate seal retainer which makes that engine even more apt to leak oil if all is not right.

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In installing the graphite seals on those engines that have to use them, I work the seal into the groove with a larger socket and then cut off the seal ends so they protrude above the‘flats’ about 1/32” on all four ends. Using a tongue depressor or similar thin and stiff material and a razor blade permits a nice straight cut on the seal ends while allowing for that desired amount of protrusion to be in place. When the seals halves are mated to each other, those protrusions insure that there are no gaps at the seal ends.

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As a side note, I’m told that soaking the rope seals in oil prior to installing them also helps.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)