Rope or modern rubber seals for front and back of motor??

[pleask]

This is my first TC motor rebuild (I have done a few older TR's). In the TC's Forever bible on page 140 he says that he had a blow out using the more modern rubber seals, and so went back to the rope.

Any thoughts on what I should do please? Stay with the rope, go modern?

Also, do I use some RTV with it rope if I go that way?

Any other tips, I'm all ears!
Pat

[Steve Simmons]

If everything is machined just right, and your crank scroll is still in good order, and you assemble things perfectly, the rope seal keeps the oil in fairly well. Most TCs are not that way however, so a rubber seal is often a good thing.

I run the Moss seals front and rear, and neither one leaks a drop. It's spooky how dry they are, as if I've run out of oil. But the rear wasn't always that way, it leaked terribly the first time I installed it. Since then I've discovered a few flaws in the design of the seal housing that once corrected eliminated the leaking. Mine was an early kit and they have corrected the most major of the problems in the latest version. Great care must be taken when installing, going beyond the instructions and measuring everything numerous times before it will be right. But when it is, you can forget about leaving puddles of oil behind wherever you park.

Now if I could just get the gearbox as oil tight!

[pleask]

Thanks Steve, I thought (???) that there was a modern type rubber seal MOSS # 291-200 #27 (link below) for the back that replaced the rope, that was NOT part of the entire rear conversion kit?

http://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProd ... rtOrder=31

It says "Seal, bearing cap to sump" .. OR, should this say "ROPE seal, bearing cap to sump" ?
Pat

[Steve Simmons]

There is no seal at the rear of the crank, just a cork strip for the gap between the bearing cap and the sump (your #27). The "seal" around the crank itself is simply machined tolerances and a reverse scroll machined into the crankshaft. This is what the seal conversion replaces, once those tolerances have worn to the point that they no longer prevent oil from escaping. There is no "drop in" seal to replace this setup without either a seal conversion kit or machining the existing parts to accept one. On the front, the rubber lip seal simply replaces the rope seal.