Bill,
I think installing a brand new seal in-situ while being very tedious
(cleanliness, wayward sealing compound) would probably be an improvement over a
heavily worn seal. You do have to remove the flywheel to access the top-side
seal
bolts.
The aluminum seal seems to wear 'all around' (it's extremely difficult to
gauge wear even side by side with a brand new seal). The seal does seem to wear
more at the bottom due to a very heavy crankshaft and flywheel/clutch combo.
Upon reinstallation if I were to error in clearance specs I would secure the
seal very slightly 'lower' (make the seal's gap larger at the bottom than the
top) because the crank will be working its way down as mileage goes on.
I broke off slivers of .03" feeler gauge to set my seal, 30 years back, but
this technique is not as accurate because its hard to 'square-up' the seal to
the shaft like with the proper Churchill mandrell.
Total clearance is .006" (.03" all around) so if you are off - you might get
.01" on one side and .05" on the other. It's easier to get 'side to side'
specs correct because of accessibility. But I'm saying in the up and down
department it's better to have the .05" at the bottom so when crank inevitably
settles
you'll be aproaching .03" both at top and bottom, rather than .01" at bottom
and .08" at top.
And your luck may vary.
Good luck!
Carl
'63 TR4 since '74
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I'm now wondering if, "while I'm in there", now is a good time to replace
the original-type rear oil seal on the engine. My question: Can the rear
oil
seal be replaced by pulling the flywheel and WITHOUT dropping the crankshaft
and using the mandrell centering tool? Is there a slick way to install the
seal halves so that they have the proper clearance? Or will it probably
leak
as much as it does now regardless of the method used?
Many thanks,
Bill Stagg
1960 TR3A
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