> When I took my engine apart, I must not have noticed. Isn't
> there suppose to
> be a rear rubber seal on the stock engines?
No.
> If I look at the
> silver aluminum
> rear seal lip halves I can see where a grove seems to be cut for
> one,
That's not what that groove is for. It's actually part of the mechanical
seal.
> Although I plan to install the much
> improved seal (w/ the spring and rubber seal)
Frankly, after seeing how they are made and how much grief some people have
had with them; I'm starting to believe that the original seal is still a
better design ! It's biggest flaw is simply that almost no one ever
replaces them (since it's difficult to assess wear), and those that do
apparently don't get them set right. (People more knowledgeable than me
have stated that the mandrel dimensions shown in the manual are wrong.)
> Could there have been no rubber seal originally?
Most rear seals of the day were "rope" seals, basically graphite impregnated
cotton packing, somewhat like that used in steam valve stems and whatnot.
My 62 Chevy used a rope seal too, so it wasn't just a quaint British custom.
The rubber seals available then apparently just could not handle the heat,
speed and vibration. The "labyrinth" seal found on the TR motors is
actually an improvement over the rope seal, with much longer life. Rope
seals would generally start leaking pretty badly before the main bearings
wore out the first time, while the labyrinth seals don't wear at all until
the main bearings do, allowing the crank to contact the seal.
BTW, there has been a lot of grief over how to modify the crank for the
"high tech" seal, and once you do, you can't go back unless you replace the
crank. I would be VERY careful to get the dimensions right the first time.
Our local club president used the dimension that Moss gave her, and her TR4
with "high tech" seal leaks far worse than I've ever seen an original seal
leak. Moss admitted the dimension was wrong, but refused to do anything
about the damaged crank. I doubt any of the other vendors would either.
Randall
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