[Verdoro 68]

After a few days of drips, I pulled the short block apart again. The lip on the two piece was entirely wet so it was clear it was leaking. I'm still not sure exactly what why the Viton seals gave me so much trouble, maybe It was a combo of little things.

As a last ditch effort, I decided to try the graphite seal. I cleaned the seal channel really well before installing and removed the gasket maker from the anti-rotation holes. I used a deep well socket to set it in place and lubed the surface with some motor oil and assembly lube. I put the crank in place with the cap to test the contact between the graphite seal and the crank. The lube on the seal left a witness mark all around the crank which I took as a good sign. Not sure why I didn't think of doing that with the Viton seals.

I learned from my last several attempts that a bead of black Right Stuff over the rear main cap and on the the edges of the pan do the trick to seal the pan back there. I've had it tilted full of oil for about 8 hours now and there's not a drip in sight. Dare I say it, I'm calling the short block done! Hopefully this seal doesn't give me any trouble when I fire it up.

Stopped by the machine shop of Friday. No progress on the the heads, but he assured me he'd have them for me in the next two weeks. Heard that story before