69 Block rear main seal

[1slow95]

I'm getting tired of the puddles of oil under my car. I pulled the engine out 2 years ago to change the oil pan gasket because it was leaking almost like it didn't even have a gasket. Now I get a small drip while the car is running and I always end up with a decent sized puddle after it sits overnight. I'm not sure exactly where it's coming from, but I suspect it's the rear main seal.

My problem is the 69 block has a 2-piece rear main. Since this was my first engine build, I didn't realize you were supposed to put a dab of RTV between the 2 pieces... I assume that would cause a leak? If that's where my problem is, can I change just the seal? I need to pull the main cap off to get to it and I don't know if I can do that without changing the main bearings?


The reason I'm contemplating pulling the engine to fix this is because I plan to change my exhaust soon, and removing the headers is just about the hardest part of pulling my engine. (Other than removing all those stupid bolts in the scattershield....)

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

You could reuse the bearing if it's in good shape. It would probably be easiest to pull the engine though, because it's about the same job as doing an oil pan gasket, except the pan needs to come completely out for the job. I would think it could leak without some RTV between the two halves, but I can't say for sure.

 

[BlackVert]

with KOOKs, i thought removing the headers was easier than with one piece headers?

but i have heard of people replacing the rear main seal without removing the engine. not sure how much harder it would be in your case though. what with the fact that it is a 351 block instead of a 302 block ...

 

[hookups333]

302 block is easy to change rear main it has a one piece rear main his sounds low 5.0's is alot different.

 

[95Mustang302]

yeah, low has a 69 block poked and stroked to a 418, its only "slightly" different than a late model 302, LOL

 

[1slow95]

with KOOKs, i thought removing the headers was easier than with one piece headers?

but i have heard of people replacing the rear main seal without removing the engine. not sure how much harder it would be in your case though. what with the fact that it is a 351 block instead of a 302 block ...

Yeah, the Kooks aren't too hard to remove, but it's still the hardest part of pulling my engine.

The older blocks look something like this...As you can see there's no way to get to it without removing the main cap.