Hi Folks
As a holiday treat to myself I removed the 312 Y block engine in my '57 Retractable on Christmas Eve with a view to fitting new rear crank seal and a few other minor jobs.
Although I have the normal type of stand which picks up on the tapped holes in the rear face of the block which mates to the bellhousing, it only uses 4 fixings: the 2 lower fixings could go into a meaty part of the block near the crankshaft centre-line. Looking at a couple of the higher tapped holes in the block however (to make up the 4) these are much less re-assuring, bearing in mind the substantial weight of this engine, and are unsupported 'stand-out' bosses in the casting, only perhaps half an inch thick. These relatively thin sections make me very nervous about mounting my engine this way and make me wonder if it is common practice amongst Y-block experts not to risk this approach but to find a double sided rotating engine stand which uses the engine mounting features found on each side of the block. Any advice would be welcome.
In addition, a good local engine machine shop advised me not to slavishly fit the grapited-rope rear crank seals again but to use a more moderen approach. They recommended I use a Dodge 318 ('75-'76) 2 piece nitrile rubber seal Part No. BS-40245. I notice MAC are offering something which sounds similar but costs c.$50! Any advice here would also be most welcome too. Dripping engines in this tidy and proud community where I live are simply just NOT acceptable, it seems!
Many thanks in anticipation.
JK