Thread: rebuild question.

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hey everyone.

im rebuilding a 350 block to pun in my 71 nova. its my first rebuild so its really rewarding to see the whole thing come together.

i was told when i first started that if i was going to try to do it myself, to get ready to take it apart and put it back together a few times before i get it right. well..

i haven't had to do that yet, and hopefully i can get out of this jam im in.

i just finished short blocking it yesterday, the pistons, crank, cam, timing chain, i thought it was all ok. i didnt put in the rear main oil seal in!

the seal is one round peice, rather that the 2 peice seals that i seen in my summit mag. anyway..


do i have to take my block apart in order to install this?

Originally posted by concrete0083
hey everyone.

im rebuilding a 350 block to pun in my 71 nova. its my first rebuild so its really rewarding to see the whole thing come together.

i was told when i first started that if i was going to try to do it myself, to get ready to take it apart and put it back together a few times before i get it right. well..

i haven't had to do that yet, and hopefully i can get out of this jam im in.

i just finished short blocking it yesterday, the pistons, crank, cam, timing chain, i thought it was all ok. i didnt put in the rear main oil seal in!

the seal is one round peice, rather that the 2 peice seals that i seen in my summit mag. anyway..


do i have to take my block apart in order to install this?

you didnt say if you had installed the pan or not, but there should be a plate in the rear of the motor that holds the seal. 4 bolts bolts it to the block and the rear pan studs are screwed into it. the best way is to take the seal retainer off of the block , tap the seal in and bolt it back up, but you can tap the seal into the retainer while its on the motor. hope this helps

i apperciate your response.

i am doing all my work in refrence to a haynes manual for my car
and the first thing that it said to do is to install all the main bearings. and right before droping the crank in, to install the rear main oil seal. (which i somehow neglected to follow)

i looked it up online and found that the oil seal has a "housing"
like you say.

the book says nothing about this. it just says, "put it in"

i have the rods connected and the main caps torqued down. i slipped the cam in and installed the timing chain. i haven't bought an oil pan for it yet. i haven't installed the oil pump on it either.

so you dont think i have to dissasemble the rotating assembly to install the oil seal?

im planning on taking a trip to the local community college to take a look at some shortblocks and get some ideas.

Your confusion comes from the Haynes book.....not a real good source of info.

In 1986, Chevy changed from a two-piece rear seal to a one piece rear main seal. IF your block is a 86 or newer, it has this plate in the attached picture that LT1 spoke of. That plate holds the seal and is attached to the rear of the block. This seal goes on after the crank goes in.

If you have a pre-86 block, it has a two piece seal and one half goes in before the crank and the other half is inserted in the rear main cap. Make sure on either seal style to turn the seal lip INward.

Originally posted by concrete0083
i apperciate your response.

i am doing all my work in refrence to a haynes manual for my car
and the first thing that it said to do is to install all the main bearings. and right before droping the crank in, to install the rear main oil seal. (which i somehow neglected to follow)

i looked it up online and found that the oil seal has a "housing"
like you say.

the book says nothing about this. it just says, "put it in"

i have the rods connected and the main caps torqued down. i slipped the cam in and installed the timing chain. i haven't bought an oil pan for it yet. i haven't installed the oil pump on it either.

so you dont think i have to dissasemble the rotating assembly to install the oil seal?

im planning on taking a trip to the local community college to take a look at some shortblocks and get some ideas.

no, you dont have to do anything to the rotating assembly. if the motor was in the car you would pull the trans. out remove the flex plate knock the seal out and tap the new one in , replace the flex and trans and the job would be done. if the pan is not on the motor then i would unbolt the retainer off of the motor install the seal and bolt it back on .

i went outside to take a look and found that it my block does take the plate. when i purchased the block from the machine shop. it didnt come with one. and it didn't come in the rebuild package i bought. thats cool though, it means i get to take another trip to the shop. fun fun fun.

thanks for the help.

sounds like to me the shop owe you a bearing retainer. i would think that would be part of the block.

is that plate called a bearing retainer?

or is that something completly different?

Originally posted by concrete0083
is that plate called a bearing retainer?

or is that something completly different?

thats what i would say it is , a rear main seal retainer. thats close enough.