okay, here is my problem, i have 440, 1973 motor home 440, i bought the engine from a friend, the engine has not been rebuilt, however some new things have been added, on the rear main seal, the top seal is still the old rope seal and the bottom is the new neroperne seal, it leak when i cranked up the car, the motor is still in the car, i have the oil pan off, i have the real main seal retainer cap off, the problem i have, i have gotten most of the old rope seal pushed out of the top, however there are some pieces stuck in the slot where i need to slide the new seal into place, is there any tricks in getting all the old seal out of slot, i have pushed wire rods up and and over, however i have been unsuccessful in getting all the seal out, i have went and bought some small parts bushes to stick in the slot, is there something i can spray in the slot to disolve the old seal?

keep workin' it till it comes out. otherwise you know what you'll have to do if that dosn't fan out.

you mean pull the engine ? please say no

good news, i got a new rope seal into the block and new nerophrene bottom seal, i have not crank car up yet, i have my fingers crossed

I suggest that you use rope on the bottom half also.

Hopefully you didn't destroy the seal surface on the crank trying to get the old rope seal out of there.

i just cranked the car ran for about 10mins no leaks so far, do you think it worked?

i checked the crankshaft in detail, i did not scratch the crank shaft, i kept the crank shaft in check and spun it around and did not work on just one side, i think i have done it

i used the nerophrene on the bottom and put a little rtv on the retain cap side

keep those fingers crossed

i have run the engine around 10mins, no oil leak