Rope seal advice

[john in illinois]

How close should I trim a front rope seal? I usually use one piece seals.

John

[john in illinois]

How close should I trim a front rope seal? I usually use one piece seals.

John

[JDupuis]

John, are you talking about the front crank rope seal?
They are usually half moons. Soak in oil for a day, no trimming required. Hope this helps. Jeff

[Mitch]

I like to pack the ends in tight and flush. Ck out post #3 on this engine topics tech thread

https://www.vintagefordforum.com/forum/model-a/technical-reference/3640-engine-topics

[tbirdtbird]

We don't cut them. Squish them in there with a big socket if need be. They need to squish out and expand to work properly. I used to soak them but now I coat them in a heavy wheel bearing grease like that Red Mystic that Tom uses

[CM2]

If the rope hangs out of the groove a half inch after seating it with a socket cut it off a16th above the pan flange/timing cover oil pan deck..put a little dab of ultra grey on the butts..

[Big hammer]

I tried putting the rope in a small can overnight to preform it, didn’t help much. Used a large socket and it slipped out, used a 32 oz Ball peen hammer on its side and smack the hammer with another hammer :-)
The rope seal was proud about 1/2 inch, so I trimmed it about 1/16 proud, a dab of sealer on the ends.

[George Miller]

I always put them in dry form with a socket the same size as the crank where it rides. Put grease on the seal. champed the bolt holes in the block. Then put a little sealer in the champed to seal the bolts from oil working up and out. If it has inserts put some sealer on mating surface of the cap.

Don,t forget to check the drain tube to make sure it is open. Lots of time they are plugged with babbitt or the pipe is screwed in to far.

[Tom Wesenberg]

I also install the seal dry, then form it with a socket. At times I have had to trim the ends of the rope a little, but be sure to leave 1/8" to 3/16" above the pan gasket so it compresses for a good seal. I squirt some oil on the seal and give it a coat of grease also. The last engine I did was so hard to pull the timing cover down and get the bolts started, that I finally made a tool to pull it down. I install a bolt on the right side of the timing cover, then use my tool to pull the left side down, and get a bolt started.

[plyfor]

We had the same issue with the teflon type rope as Tom. Wish we had thought of a tool like that!!. It possibly could be used with the engine in the car.
We ended up using a crow bar.

[H. L. Chauvin]

There will always be similar Forum opinions and there will always be different Forum opinions ..... choose what opinion one thinks is best; however, I never had one leak in 60 years.

After being taught by my 1920's Mechanic School Trained Mechanic Uncle, (born 1905), he taught to first provide non-hardeneing Permatex No.2 in the oil pan metal groove and on the back side of the dry rope. (FWIW: Permatex No.2 was available during Model T days, prior to later Model A's).

Place dry Permatex coated rope in oil pan groove and seat & compact dry rope with a large cylindrical socket from a socket wrench set. (Note: Dry rope is not swollen with oil at this time; only air is driven out of this dry rope.)

Cut both ends of dry rope with a sharp knife allowing both ends of dry rope to protrude upwards about 1/8" and hammer both cut ends down flush.

Grease exposed top of installed dry rope where it butts the rotating crankshaft and grease at both cut ends of the dry rope and lightly rub grease "into" exposed rope fibers.

When engine is running and warm, wet warm oil gradually soaks into this dry rope; hence, this well compacted dry rope expands very slightly.

(Remember: Soak a dry rag in lubricating oil for a day and the rag fibers expand ..... hang this rag on a clothes line in mid-air for a month and the rag fibers shrink ..... now think about a well oiled soaked oil pan rope later sitting in air above the oil level in an oil pan?)

[DaWizard]

Well, just to throw my 2¢ into the pot, I have for the last 50+ years soaked my rope gasket in engine oil and stuffed it into the groove wet.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Love it ...... how long to cook pasta ..... light beer or dark beer ..... blondes or brunettes ...... metric system or English system ... what moon to plant in ...... nobody can argue with Mr. DaWizard's experience after 50 years ...... appears this is what we all are about ...... if you are happy ..... do it.

[BNCHIEF]

Bottom line do what works for since there is more than one way to do things.

[john in illinois]

filedata/fetch?id=52871&d=1554111791&type=thumb Wow thanks for all the replies. It is a teflon coated seal. I used oil and a socket to instal and trimmed to 1/4” so.
I will probably shorten it to about 1/16 and pack it in and I do use silicone on ends.

[Tom Wesenberg]

John, your ends look fine in the picture. Remember, you don't have the gasket glued to the block yet, so you need to account for that thickness also. If you use a cork gasket, just snug the bolts, then recheck after a few days, when the cork takes a "set". Also you can use a punch to push some of the rope into the groove.

[john in illinois]

Thanks Tom. I will be using cork pan and valve cover gaskets.

John