front main seal

[justinburnett]

Need to replace the front main crankshaft seal on a 1970s 400sbc. Have the timing cover off already. When I pulled the old seal, there is a metal ring part in the front that I thought would just pop out but it seems attached to the timing cover so all that came out was the rubber inside ring. I have a new seal but this one looks like it should tap into a straight hole, but what I have is a little channel with a lip no the front and the seal won't fit. THis all seems wrong. Should I pry off the metal ring on the front of the timing cover or is there some trick to doing this tIat I'm not getting?

Thanks.
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[wyattglock]

You are correct about the new seal going into a straight hole. Get your hands on a seal puller, or you can flip the cover over and use a punch and tap it out from the back. The metal ring does need to come out, it can be a bit of a pita. Chances are it has a slight rust ring around the outside of the seal next to the timing cover, sometimes that works better than loctite!

[justinburnett]

Looked at it closer in some better light and for sure it needs to come out, but damn if it isn't stuck in there tighter than... well... something inappropriate.

Anyway, beat on it for a bit and succeeded in bending the crap out of the seal ring. Need to get something in there and pry it out or just cut it and peel it loose. Thanks for confirming this though.

[wyattglock]

No problem. I just went through the same thing changing the seal on my 454. Luckily, I had seal puller and it popped it out. But not before I bent the living crap out of the metal seal ring.