How is my engine? Valve Cover off and Compression Results

Yeah it's in there. You have to loosen all the caps as far as you can while still being held in by the bolts and drop the crank down.
 
X2 plus you will need to also unbolt the Torque Converter and push it backwards into the pump so the studs will clear the flex plate. If you can find one of the old school "Sneaky Pete" tools that were made for the replacement of rope type rear main seals in the car it might be helpful. Good luck (y) :nod:
 
Thanks for the tips!

Like almost everything I run into lately it is stuck! :banghead:

I took the bolts off expecting it to come down but it is glued up there!

Backstory: When I first received the car i was so impatient that I took it to a shop to get it 'tuned up' and 'fix' my rear main seal. Now I am seeing how they just slathered on the sealer which is making this harder than it needed to be.

So any tips on how I can get this rear cap off? Soak in WD-40 for days?? What tool should I use?? Anything helps.

Up close of cap with sealer in blue circle
https://photos.app.goo.gl/eZNBVkYwXFGmKL2fA

Thanks!
 
Hi, the bearing caps are sunken into the block. I hit them with a copper hammer. If you are using the two piece rubber seal there are specific instructions for installation, and you must remove the pin that holds the rope seal and seal the hole in the cap. Good luck
 
:shock: :wow: Nice repair job how much did they soak you for doing that bush fix? I am guessing that it didn't work to fix the oil leak for very long if ever. On the rear cap you can also use a small pry bar or big flat blade screwdriver to gently put some pressure at the top center of the rear cap and the against crankshafts counter weight to loosen it pry it out of the blocks register. The Rocker Arm assembly looks really nice and was quick delivery that is going to make a good amount of difference. Good luck :nod: (y)
 
I am super ashamed :oops: and it pisses me off still when I think about it but it was a $1200 'repair' job. They were supposed to do a tune up too but they broke off the choke tube in the exhaust manifold, and didnt even know about the non-scv v scv. I didn't realize what they had done until months and years later so there is nothing I can really do about it now. Wish I had patience and you guys back then, to think what I could do with $1200 now. I also handed them $400 for replacing my master cylinder :roll: Like I said i feel completely stupid for this and it is just a $1600 learning experience hope anyone else reading this can learn from me and try to do the job themselves before taking it to someone else or at least understand what they are doing before you just blindly hand it over.

Stepping down now from my soapbox... I plan to get the rear cap out now with my rubber mallet, I don't have a copper one. And carefully try to pry it down as bubba said.

Thanks again for all the support. (y)
 
Well I don't think you have anything really to be ashamed of Drake, it's all on them for being the sleazes that they are and you will find these kind of hack artists in every field. So there is the opertunity for anyone of us to be taken advantage of in some way or another. You learned a hard lesson but now you also have some wisdom that will help you to be able to recognize these kind people that experience should help you through out your life. I can see that you have also,moved on and took the time and put in the effort learning how to do many of you own repairs. Keep it up. (y) :nod:
 
Thank you bubba I appreciate it :nod:

B Ron co, the cap came off after a few taps of a mallet (y) . The seal had been replaced but the pin was not removed :thumbdown:. I need to pick up a 1/16th punch to get this pin out, little guy is really stuck in there.

Getting the gasket off the pan and block is quite the job but it is coming a long. I’m going to paint the pan while it’s off. Pictures to come...
 
Hi, so the rope seal was replaced with a rubber seal and they left the pin in the cap. You have to knock out the pin and fill the hole with sealer.
Also make sure you learn how to install the new rubber seal. Chilton's, and other shop manuals give good instructions.
Now how does the bearing look. It should be a dull gray. No copper showing.
Good luck
 
So does your engine still have an orginal rope type seal than they do need that retaining pin in place. If you are converting over to the neoprene type seal than the pin needs to be removed. By the way in the recent past there has been quite a bit of trouble with the currently available aftermarket neoprene seals by site members (some with as many as three tries) these newer seals are not working or sealing very well. Some day if I have the opertunity to do some measuring of all available seals and a few tests maybe able to discover why they don't work well now.

The only solution currently that I know of if you want to use a neoprene seal (and this has been a favorite upgrade of mine for many years) is to search for an NOS Ford rear main seal. Outherwise if you can't find one than you might be better off to stay with the rope type seal. For those that want to go back to a rope seal because they are having trouble with the neoprene seals leaking you can make a replacement pointed retaining pin out of a small finish nail (about a 3 or 4 penny you need to check the diameter that fits hole) that's cut to fit. Best of luck (y) :nod:
 
The new seal was installed but they did not remove the pin so it was going to leak. I removed the pin with a 3/32 punch.

I already have a felpro seal I got from advance auto parts so I am going to try that if I can't find an NOS seal on ebay. Usually everywhere I read hates on the rope seal so this is interesting to hear.

B RON CO, I think my bearing looks pretty good looks gray as you said. See the pictures below. I also updated the google album so you can see how awful that gasket on the oil pan was.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MgWpSdZJw8qyvwVo7

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9E6XwpPzFPgefRS69

Link to full album
https://photos.app.goo.gl/n9MDfLroGJfaFYVD7bnb
 
I installed the seal today but not sure I am happy with it and may redo it.

I put the top half in the car and as I was pushing it through some of the rubber seal shaved off, not much but some. I pulled that one out and then tried the other one and it went in better and i gently tapped with a punch to push it the rest of the way. Then I put the slightly shaved one in the cap and bolted it down to spec.

When I went back under to check it out I saw a drop of oil coming down from the rear cap. The oil was the new oil from when I lubbed the seals.

Should I redo the whole thing with a new seal or am I over thinking this. My gut says to redo it. :unsure:
 
Did you do as Econline had suggested in his above post? IE by loosening all the main cap's so the rear of the crankshaft could drop down a little as well as unbolting the torque converter from the flex plate and pushing it back against the front pump? Again this is so the crankshaft can drop down a little. Did you happen to take pictures of the oils seals condition? The Ford rear seals had a factory recommend spec on their installation. They are to be installed so the seal ends are staggered / clocked about a 1/4 inch so the ends aren't lined up with the main caps parting line. A little dab of silicon is used on the seal ends and the corner of main caps. If not then you might want to try it again. Best of luck (y) :nod:
 
Ok so I didnt follow Econoline's directions exactly...

I loosened the bolts from back to front and after i would loosen one pair I would try to slide the seal in I got about half way before I was able to slide it in.

please confirm: So when I loosen all the bolts this time to do it right will the crank shaft drop (probably with the help of my rubber mallet). then i will be able to turn the crank shaft with my hand and guide the seal around without scraping the seal.

dumb question: rotating the crankshaft wont alter the timing or anything on the top end correct?

looking at the shop manual I am not quite sure where the sealer should go. see photo below with the blue lines. I did have the seals offset but i did not add sealer to the end because the sealer package said not to.

When i took the cap off the first time this is what I saw, seal was damaged.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qyjDBAqHvS4ee7Ly5

Is this where I put the sealer?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ukiNRcgTtmSQNtoi8

another dumb question. these are the bolts I loosen for the flex plate to drop the crank??
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UgraELwcQELLLZYw7

This is how I installed the seal with about 1/4" sticking out.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FNyicGMz2vbuFzoUA

Here are the new rockers installed!
https://photos.app.goo.gl/SdcqibwPVyPB2sWF8
 
Hi, the offset looks good.
You found the 4 nuts on the torque converter converter. Remove them and push the torque converter in towards the tranny.
I have good luck applying silicone gasket maker sparingly, according to my Chilton's Manual: Put a thin line of sealer on the engine block, on the outsides of the sunken part, where the cap will sit into. Just a little line of sealer, from the very back of the block, forward just to stop at the second groove for the slinger part of the crank. Since you are working from the bottom, this will be above the oil pan rail.
I just put a small dab of sealer on each side of the bearing cap, at the edge, in line with the seal, to 1/8" away from the new seal.
Good luck
 
X2 Yes when all mains are loosened up enough usally more at the rear than the front. When the crank swings down enough about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch the seal should slide right in without needing to turn the crank. No your timing won't change if you needed to turn the crank. Yes as B Ron Co stated already on the sealer apply. The rocker arm assembly looks great can't wait to hear how good runs now from all your hard work. Good luck (y) :nod:
 
So far so good, lets hope no leaks.
If so just pull the engine & do it from the top side.
 
Ok got the new seal and put it in yesterday. Loosened all the bolts this time and was able to slide the rear main seal in without shaving any of it off. I think I applied the sealer properly...

Feel pretty good about it. Need to order some new oil pan bolts and I think one of my bolt holes is stripped from the guys that did the repair last so I’ll have to dig into that. Also going to replace the pump and screen. Will be a while for those parts come in but I’ll keep updating.

I’ll be painting the oil pan as I wait.

http://cubeupload.com/im/Drakesbigday/4 ... 58A82.jpeg

4CCB0730A38645E58A82.jpeg
 
if U want, glue the gasket lightly onto the pan. B4 doing so place pan on known flat plate (or use straight edge). Assure flatness, Tap w/hammer if needed to reshape, then use correct gasket snot to pan. One (or 11 - 13) pencils (due to conical shape) can center bolt holes on pan B4 dried. Now (read tube for hardness time) put up pan but do not over tighten and (just like V/C top side) use 'finger tight'. Then go back do each 1/4, go back feel tightness to go another 1/8 to one 1/4 again (glue applied to only pan side). U can bend them outta shape (v/c and pan) so they leak. Pan & vc are just to protect and press gaskets to the other surface so as not to leak, not to even compress the gasket it's full collapse (unlike head gasked U really wanna s q u i s h) ...

Sorry, 'glue is not correct term. Theres so many (exotics I call them) of the chems-ina-tube now days I gettem mixed up. "Better living thru chemistry" hada different meaning in my day, & there wuz only 3 or 4...
:shock:
 
Ahhhh Chad thank you.

After reading your post I realized I made a mistake and did not let the sealer on the rear main to cure an hour before I torqued to spec.

I need to pull it off again and redo it. Taking it off and on doesn’t damage the seal right? Don’t feel like buying another one haha. It’s not like a gasket right?
 
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