As part of a major refresh to a 1969 Corvette my mechanic replaced the rear main seal 3 times and the seal still leaks. The leak results in a silver dollar sized spot on the garage floor. The rear main is being replaced with the engine in the car, removing the steering linkage and pan to gain access. He cleans the seal area and seals with RTV. He put fluorescent dye into the crankcase to accurately see the leak origin. The engine is original with 89K miles and has had no major work.
- First time: Fel Pro flouroelastomer seal and also replaced pan gasket with a Fel Pro one piece rubber/steel core pan gasket
- Second time: New Fel Pro flouoelastomer seal and reused the pan gasket
- Third time: Fel Pro offset rear main seal and new multi-piece cork pan gasket.
After the 3rd try the seal did not drip for a couple of days <150 miles and then started leaking.
The mechanic works at the local Chevy dealer and has much experience with hot rods and restorations. He isn't a Corvette expert. He's done much of the work on the car including suspension, brakes, clutch, diff with mostly good results. $7,500 invested in parts alone. The car runs well and most of the work has been satisfactory. The diff cover flange broke and I'll always wonder if this was due to installation error. One rear strut rod bushing failed. The part from Zip looked lower quality than a new set purchased locally. The failure could be due to the part or installation error. Other systems work well, so I have reasonable confidence in the mechanic's ability and would expect him to know how to work on a small block Chevy.
The car received a chapter Top Flight last month. I plan to have it judged at a regional next year. Not sure if I'll attempt a PV. I frequently drive the car and plan to put on 5-6K miles per year.
Do you have suggestions?
Should I just live with the drip?
1969 Corvette
350CU/300HP
4 SP
AC, PS, PB
Chapter Top Flight 96.7%
Thanks
- First time: Fel Pro flouroelastomer seal and also replaced pan gasket with a Fel Pro one piece rubber/steel core pan gasket
- Second time: New Fel Pro flouoelastomer seal and reused the pan gasket
- Third time: Fel Pro offset rear main seal and new multi-piece cork pan gasket.
After the 3rd try the seal did not drip for a couple of days <150 miles and then started leaking.
The mechanic works at the local Chevy dealer and has much experience with hot rods and restorations. He isn't a Corvette expert. He's done much of the work on the car including suspension, brakes, clutch, diff with mostly good results. $7,500 invested in parts alone. The car runs well and most of the work has been satisfactory. The diff cover flange broke and I'll always wonder if this was due to installation error. One rear strut rod bushing failed. The part from Zip looked lower quality than a new set purchased locally. The failure could be due to the part or installation error. Other systems work well, so I have reasonable confidence in the mechanic's ability and would expect him to know how to work on a small block Chevy.
The car received a chapter Top Flight last month. I plan to have it judged at a regional next year. Not sure if I'll attempt a PV. I frequently drive the car and plan to put on 5-6K miles per year.
Do you have suggestions?
Should I just live with the drip?
1969 Corvette
350CU/300HP
4 SP
AC, PS, PB
Chapter Top Flight 96.7%
Thanks
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