Kirkham (and presumable original AC) FE rear main seal replacement in car:
Sorry no pictures now
Here's is how I did it:
Lift up front end - i used stands that go under the front tires. Jack stands on the frame can be tricky because the frame is tubular, and things can sometimes slide along the frame - once my car fell off a jack because of this
drain
oil
Remove
oil pan (I have a moroso front sump road race pan). Remove gasket residue
remove rear main cap (2 big studs on my car).
Hardest part - removing main cap. I have a BBM block.
When engine is out of the car, just rock it back and forth a lot and it comes out. Unfortunately, the frame crossmember is in the way on an original frame to some degree.
It's a nice tight fit of the huge rear main cap. I took two long threaded rods and threaded them into the
oil pan bolt holes. these were about 2 feet long. I initially tried to use various strategies to pull the main cap straight down. i used a thin razor blade to cut along the silicone sealant along the sides of the cap. The pulling down techniques really did not work at all.
I finally found a way to rock the cap back and forth, doing a little levering against the thick block plate at the back of the engine. this took me a lot of time and effort over a couple days when I had some free time.
Once it came off, that was a huge relief. the actual seal needs to be pushed or pulled around the crank without scratching anything. since my seal was only in place for a few months, with no running time, it was easy to do. there are special curved tools to push it through, but i did not need one.
Clean up all the gasket/sealing surfaces very carefully.
I slid half the rear seal up into place, and then put a tiny bit of silicone sealer on the ends, where it mates with the other half of the seal. I put this other half in the main cap
how to seal the sides of the main cap is a separate discussion. i did not use the rubber seals and nails, but i probably would if doing it again. I pumped THE RIGHT STUFF into the side channels, and put a tiny bit on the other mating surfaces. then torqued the main caps studs down. there is just enough clearance behind the cross member to access these studs/bolts. if the cross member was 2 inches more posteriorly, then it would not be possible.
Also, my engine sits a tiny bit too far forward in the chassis of my car, for reasons I cant explain. You should have enough access by that crossmember if you're engine is in stock location.
then reinstall oil pan, using cork gasket and silicone in the right spots. (i love the flat oil pan surface of an FE with that skirted block), add new oil, and hope it doesnt leak
I personally, without any strong evidence, think the crank dimensions of aftermarket cranks may be slightly off, and so I personally wonder if it is harder to get a good seal. or maybe the rear seals are just a bit off? in any case, my rear main now seeps just a bit, enough to occasionally leave a drop on the floor as opposed to leaving a puddle. i don't know if achieving no leakage is possible.
I also had trouble mounting the damper and the flywheel, because the external dimensions of the aftermarket crank are a tiny bit off
ruined one damper figuring that out.
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