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Fun with rear crank seal spring.

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steveg

steveg

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When it came time to replace the rear seal and its spring, came up with a
way of using straight pins on either side to get rid of the need to bring
the spring around the crank, then hook the microscopic eyes on the end of
the spring, while simultaneously installing the spring in its groove.

Thus the seal can be installed with the spring in place. This also means the
seal can be installed "normally" with the spring toward the inside of the
engine.

Pictures at:

https://www.pbase.com/stevegerow/healey_tech

no passwords reqired
 
That's another way steve, my way took seconds once I fashioned a little tool to hook/hold the spring into the back of the oil seal as I rotated the seal and fed the spring in, and it also has the spring looking toward the engine.
I am trying to picture at what point did you connect the ends of the spring together, and how did you grab the ends?

Bob
 
I will venture a guess that Steve pinned the spring in the seal on the bench and installed it on the crank as an assembly. The instructions for my seal mentioned having the spring ends 90° away from the seal seam. Moss’ instructions make no mention of that.
 
This is correct. The spring ends are not hooked together at all, they're held in place by the pins. The amount of less tension is insignificant compared to having them hooked together.

The idea is to install the spring on the bench, then install seal with spring as a unit around the crank.

This is a Moss kit and likewise I'd heard nothing about the spring hooks being at right angles to the joint.
 
Hi Steve,

My only concern with your 'ez installation fix' is the slight distortion where the split seal ends meet on your photo. Could be the head of the pin but think it's better if the seal ends match perfectly. I believe this is why, on some instuctions anyway, they say that the joint of the spring should not be aligned with the joint of the seal .. the smooth spring area will help prevent distortion and close the gap. If you think about it, even though the seal joint is at the top, there will be oil trying to get by the seal while the crank is turning at various RPM's. If there is a some type of gap at the top the oil will find a way out.

It shouldn't be too hard to connect the spring ends in-situ (reading glasses or magnifying shades help) and then work the spring into the seal groove. Then move the seal holder in place, etc. etc.

Cheers,
John
 
Hi John,
I'll let you know how it turns out.

The pin heads are clipped off and filed flush. They're pushed thru from the outside and only slightly into the sealing lip.

Last time I did this thru the tunnel hole, I was not able to get the spring attached by fumbling blindly behind the flange. So I attached the spring ends off the car and wound up distorting the spring stretching it over the crankshaft flange.
 
Steve

I did mine with the engine insitue,during a clutch change. I first fitted the spring by gently pulling the both ends down over the crank to just below the level of the sump and fitting them together, this does not over stretch the spring, then slipped the seal on in the correct location. As there is very little space between the fly wheel flange andd the block the trick is getting the spring into the seal and this was done from below the car with a small hook device, which was more of a 90 degree bend with a slight return on the tip. I held the spring into the seal at the join and gently rotated the seal on the crank feeding the spring into the groove.

Bob
 
Bob,
That sounds like the the way to go compared to how I did it the first time, but, in the interests of advancing the state of knowledge, I think I'll go ahead and try it with the pins--just to see if it works. After all, if it doesn't, I won't be any worse off than a stock Healey.
 
Steve (and others),

Since you have a Moss kit, do you know where the T cork pieces are supposed to go? The instructions don't seem to mention them and Dave and I were wondering where they go since they aren't included on kits from other manufacturers.

mossT.jpg
 
Mmmm

Are they something to do with the end cap/bearing on the crank, without consulting the cork oil seal layout for the sump and crank, I do recall some seals of this nature. My kit from SC parts certainly did not have them. Just the spring, seal and the two semi circular seal housings and screws to suit and drill guide.

Bob
 
There are the two rectangular cork gasket approx. 2.5 - 3.0" long that fits in the recess of the front and rear crank bearing cap. These 'fill in' and augment the cork pan gasket. The T shape of these gaskets are a mystery unless the T is cut off for some applications?
 
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