Sold WC-12 W-231808

[17thAirborne]

I will be at a standstill until I get a new rear seal to replace the rope seal. I have read all of the stories about Jeep rope seals. Two camps; they work and they don't work. Usually those who have decades of rebuilding experience know how to properly install a rope seal, and us new guys learn over time. I would rather wait a few days for a neoprene seal to arrive than tear down an engine to replace an improperly installed rope seal. I know some will advise me they are fine, I just don't want to go through the hassle.

I am open to recommendations on brand and supplier. I will speak to my machinist as he has a 1-day turn around on parts ordered. He has done a lot of flat heads in the last 50 years, so I bet he knows exactly what to order.

(Post Script, see post below for images, you don't use a rope seal, but two 1/2 rear main seal plates with additional gaskets....read later post)

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[17thAirborne]

Since I am stalled on the engine build, i decided to keep pace with parts cleaning. My favorite task I cleaned the timing cover, front engine plate, crankshaft pulley, oil dip stick, and not pictured is the floating oil pick up. I'll get some images later, but I took the cover off, removed the screen, cleaned everything in kerosene and reassembled. I started cleaning the bell housing.

I cleaned and primed the timing chain cover and when getting ready to install the oil seal and it's gasket, i realized it is the same diameter, but the lip is completely different. I'm sure my machinist will replace this with the correct one this week. Post script...spoke with my builder, the seal is correct, it goes in with the lip facing inward. This type has the neoprene inner seal. Will post images later.

I love the details that emerge when cleaning up grimy parts. Below is an image of the bell housing with the date of manufacture.

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[17thAirborne]

My machinist came over to the garage and looked closely at the rear main seal. Neither a rope or a neoprene seal is used. The rear seal is created by a rear two-piece seal plate and the two neoprene grove seals that go into the cap. The kit had two different types of the grove seal for different applications. The grove in the rear of the bearing is for oil distribution via the oil-slinger that is machined into the crank.

I lubed the bearings, installed the crankshaft without the seal just to check rotational tension. Everything turns fine by hand with the caps torqued properly. I took the crank out ...again...to install the rear seals. I'll do that this afternoon.

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[17thAirborne]

Installed the crank shaft today. First I test fitted all of the rear main bearing seal parts and gaskets. There are the two rubber left and right halves, the two metal upper and lower plates with neoprene main seals and the two gasket halves that go between the block and the seals.

Then, as indicated by the manual. I installed the upper an lower main seal plate with the screws loose, installed the crank and then the cap which I torques down to 75 ft-lbs. The crank rotated fine. I then installed the remaining bearings and caps and torqued them down one at a time checking for free rotation between each cap.

I checked the end play IAW the manual and have 0.003" end play.

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end play.jpg (135.39 KiB) Viewed 1546 times

[17thAirborne]

Just to get it out of the way, i installed the gasket and engine cover plate. I had to remove the timing gear to get the plate over it, Make sure to rotate the crank so that the screw eyes that protrude from the shaft are aligned so you can get the plate over the screw eyes. There are several bolt holes, three studs and two pins in the block to align the plate. The lower stud (yellow arrow) is not used for the timing chain cover, so you can use that one with a nut and lock washer to secure the plate.

I then mounted the gear back on. Don't forget to align the timing mark on the gear with the axis of the two shafts. The image looks off, but it's just the angle of the camera so you can see the alignment axis.

Next I will tackle the pistons, rings and connecting rods.

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cover plate 2.jpg

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[17thAirborne]

Parts search day, picked up the cab, no other progress as in the truck driving around looking for obscure stuff!

[17thAirborne]

I had my flywheel resurfaced today. Poor quality image, but you can see the work is done. There is a small area of pitting left outside of the diameter of the clutch plate, so i left that and quite a bit of meat on the disk for the next grinding if it is ever needed.

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[17thAirborne]

Just waiting on my lock washers for the connecting rods. THey are an odd OD and no one in town or on line has them. VPW has hooked me up with some NOS washers. Dropped the oil pan off to have it tanked. I don't have a big enough area to remove that kind of grime. That will make life easier and get me one part closer to finishing the engine. 65mph winds today and I do not feel like using my under roof sand blast cabinet. I could probably just hang the parts on a hook outside and let mother nature clean them.

[17thAirborne]

Finally picked up my front drive shaft. Had some work done on it and it is now installed with new hardware and grease fittings as the others. The frame is nearly ready. I just have to finish the front bumper install and then give everything one more coat of paint to clean up and nicks and dark OD mismatch touch up.

I primed the clutch cover and test fitted the two timing gears with the chain again.

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[17thAirborne]

Trying to tackle the last stages of the front bumper install. The fitting between the bumper and the horns with the spacers and the horns in there is problematic. I had to use the Zeph-bumper-motivatort-tool in both axis to get the final horn bolt in. My problem now is getting the long bolt through the tow hook, the two horns and the upper and lower surfaces of the frame. WIll review Zeph's site again to see if I have everything together properly first.

bumper bolts.jpg (161.98 KiB) Viewed 1458 times

[zepher11]

Way to go on the engine work. I haven't got into that yet. I have rebuild some small block Chevy engines back when I had more time on my hands, but not a lot of time and very dusty where we are at now. I think if I was retired, I would get back into that.

Your straps on the bumpers do look familiar. They are never easy to align for the bolts it seems!

Keep up the great work,

[Ernie Baals]

the bumpers are fun
I remember using long bolts to get everything started, Then switching them to the correct ones, one at a time
Ernie

[17thAirborne]

the bumpers are fun
I remember using long bolts to get everything started, Then switching them to the correct ones, one at a time
Ernie

I might have done this backwards as I started with two short bumper to frame bolts and am trying to work from there. I think the spacers are just a hair too tall. i might take everything apart and grind 1/16 off the spacers to give me more working room.

[17thAirborne]

Your straps on the bumpers do look familiar. They are never easy to align for the bolts it seems!

Keep up the great work,

Learned it from you

[zepher11]

Your straps on the bumpers do look familiar. They are never easy to align for the bolts it seems!

Keep up the great work,

Learned it from you

They're like having a second person helping you.