Please forgive my ignorance on this one. I have a pretty decent oil drip/leak coming from the timing chain cover/damper area. Whats in there for seals and where is the leak likely coming from? And...how big of a deal is it gonna be to put new seals in there and fix the problem. Thanks.

[ 10-24-2004, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: thorpe67RS ]

Did this leak just start (or has been getting worse slowly), or is this a leak after rebuild?
If it just started I would suspect the main front seal at the Damper. Possibly a 'blow-out' of the cover gasket - but these are usually squeezed out from to much silicone sealer or such. The Pan to Cover seal is usually good for the life of the engine - unless it's been disturbed i the past. Last could be the Cover/Pan Seal corner areas - but these usually leak after service/rebuild, not just all of a sudden unless there are other issues involved.
Best to clean the area real well and then observe where oil is coming from.
Hope this helps - post back with info.

Its a leak that has slowly gotten worse. I am going to take it to my buddys shop where there is a lift. Once i get the car up in the air i will look at it closer.

If it is the front cover seal, which it sounds like it could be at this point, make sure you carefully check the Damper snout for wear (grooving) and run-out.
If the Damper has a groove worn where the seal rides on it you can install a "saver" sleave to reuse it, if it has any run-out and could be bent, replace it.

It's not coming from the fuel pump pushrod hold bolt hole is it?? Onna vertical bolts on the front of the pass. side of the motor.

These holes were originally for the old front mounts and one of them goes through to the fuel pump pushrod..

pdq67

pdq67- i will check that as well. Havent put the car in the air yet to inspect it more closely.
Vintage- My feeling at this point is that it is the front seal. Thanks for the info on the damper and possible grooving from the seal. I will look at it closely when i get it off. If i need a "saver" sleave where might i find it? Any auto parts store? Thanks.

Originally posted by thorpe67RS:
If i need a "saver" sleave where might i find it? Any auto parts store? Thanks. NAPA carries them -
Balkamp #6002016 for most Small Blocks, but you can check the application with the counter guy.
Price is @ $10.00.

Thanks. Gotta love this site.

there also seals that you can buy that run in a different groove than the stock ones i can't remember for the life of me what they are called but that would save you from buying a saver sleeve.. those things work for a while but they are soft steel and will wear out faster.

I was actually looking in my catalogs and i see you can buy a new one for less than $100. Will probably just go that route then wont have to worry about it down the road.

make sure you get the right one there are many different balancers and unfortunately the timing marks are different on all the types which would make timing the car real fun!

i saw there were several different ones. The differences i saw were in the diameter measurements. What else do i need to look for to ensure im getting the right one. Sorry, i am a total rookie on this topic.

By using a seal saver and following instructions, it will give you years of faithful service.

If you decide to replace the harmonic balancer, replace it by application, i.e., year, make, & model. Take yours off and do a comparision to new one. Line up the keyways and check the timing marks are in the same place on both.

If i can depend on the seal saver to last me years i would do that. I just didnt want to go through all the trouble of everything im gonna do only to have to do it again in a couple years cause the seal saver is shot. This is definitely going to be a winter project. Thinking i might pull the whole motor and go thru the whole thing pretty thoroughly. Its amzing how one thing leads to the next. It started out as replacing the front seals...then i said, "Well if im going to do the front i might as well do the rear seal as well". That turned into i might as well buy the entire engine gasket rebuld kit and replace all of them. Now im saying i might as well pull the motor and it would be easier to do. And, since i have the motor out and doing all that i may as well go through it and check everything. Its a disease.

Someone had posted that the 'seal savers' are made of "soft steel" - not any of the ones I've used...
The NAPA/Balkamp part is Stainless Steel and will out last any standard Damper snout. It has a much smoother surface for the seal to ride against.
If the 'saver' is installed with a coat of gasket sealer (I use Permatex #2) on the inside it will gives years and years of troublefree service. I have one on my 68 and one on my 77 p.u. with over 300,000 miles on it now.

I'm a big fan of 'replace them all while your in there' too graemlins/thumbsup.gif