[TR] Low Oil Pressure and Engine Noises

[John & Pat Donnelly]

> > Can I just remove the main
> > caps and rotate the top one out?
> 
> Yup, that's the idea.  Do them one at a time, so the crank is still
> supported.  I flattened one of the lower inserts and used it as a drift
> to
> start the upper ones out a little bit.  Then I was able to pinch the
> end
> against the crank and turn the crank to roll it out the rest of the
> way.


The parts came in from TRF so I crawled underneath.

Got the rod bearings changed. That was easy, and in fact they didn't look
too bad. Pulled the main center bearing, and after some gentle nudging I was
able to rotate out the old top one and the new one in. So far, so good.

So I decided to tackle the rear bearing. Pulled the clutch slave and the
lower flywheel cover. I could loosen the rear cap and drop it about an inch
or so until the rear seal (the original type) bolt heads interfered with the
flywheel and would go no further. Just give me an eighth of an inch!

The two bottom seal bolt-heads cleared but the outer two didn't.

I tried rotating the crank in various positions, and that helped a little,
but no luck. It's loose, but won't break free. I tried putting it back into
it's original seated position but it wouldn't go. Crap! Now, I wasn't super
physical with it because I didn't want to screw anything up.

Looking up at the rear journal you can see some scoring. So I'd really like
to get the bearings changed to give me a little more time before I have to
R&R the engine, but not sure how to get around the interference. How did
others replace the rear main bearing?

I'm tired of lying on my back looking up at an oily crankcase for two hours,
so I'm crying uncle for the evening.

Johnnie