You can change to a rope seal without completely removing the crankshaft. I did it about 5-6 years ago in my 421. I removed the main caps to pry the crankshaft up. Then I removed the crappy fel pro "rope" rear seal, worked a "Best" rope seal into the groove, tightened front 4 main caps to seat the crank and it packed the new rope seal into the groove. Then I carefully trimmed the rope seal and was very careful to not nick the crank with the supplied razor blade that came with the Best rope seal. After it was trimmed to suit me, I ran RTV on the edge of the rope seal and brought it out to the edge of where the main cap will lay. After I packed the seal in the main cap, I torqued it down and finished the engine. I have put many miles on the car and it is as dry as a bone around the rear main seal and oil pan. Also, in my opinion, the BOP 1 piece pan gasket is worth every penny.
|