'Rope' type timing cover seal

[Guest]

my 56 Packard V8 has a timing cover crank shaft seal with a rope type element. Is this element replaceable withOUT replacing the entire seal??? If so, where can i get the material. How is it installed?????? Are there little barbs on the inside or something to hold it steady??? I'd like to know before i tear it out. One other person in this forum recommended pressing a modern type seal into the seal housing itself and the pressing the entire assembly back into the front cover. I will probably go with that idea BUT i have noticed in many applications that the neoprene seal lips will often groove the shaft over 50-60 k miles. Since i will probably die with this car i'd like to use the rope type since it seems a bit less agressive on the shaft. The rope looks like a thick plumbing graphite packing. Is that what it actualy is??? Just a plumbing type packing???

[Guest]

Buick used rope seals on their engines up to the early 1980's. It is a Buick replacement part made to exact lenth. It is important to use all the lenth and not cut any off. It is simply pressed into the groove. That is one the differences between the Buick 350 and the Chevy 350. If a neoprene seal cuts a groove in the shaft, a 'jiffy sleeve' can be installed over the groove. I'm sorry, that is as close as I have experience.

[The Old Guy]

There was a repair unit made years ago that worked quite well. It was a piece of heavy tubing that had a 1/8 hole .This hole had a hardened shaft in it .To repair the seal you put a piece of .080 wire with one end pointed in the tube,put the flat end of yhe wire in the tube and drive the wire between the block and the seal. You then removed the seal half from the main cap and put in two or three pieces of wrapping cord. This effectively forced the main seal into contact with the crank and dried up the problem. I have used this system on numerous straight 8 Buick engines ,and it really does<BR> work.

[critterpainter]

The fun part of rope type seals is tht they ar not all created equal....they come in different diameters, so you have to know or "guesstamate" the dia of your seal. You could check with McMaster-Carr,(I do not kow the website) to see if they have a suitable item.<BR> Both rope and lip type seals will wear the surface it rides against, however the type of wear differs. A lip seal cuts a groove while a rope seal leaves a valley on the mating part.<BR> bill

[ronbarn]

Website is <A HREF="http://www.mcmaster.com" TARGET=_blank>www.mcmaster.com</A> <P>As noted in a previous thread on slotted oval head screws, I went there and found a lot of items I had wasted a lot of gas chasing.