Thanks for the clarification. I had a feeling the rope seal statement needed fact checking.

I know this subject is beat to death on here but I have found so much conflicting information, I am beginning to feel like I know absolutely nothing.

One last thing - good idea to cut the retainer down .010 or not? I know that will create a bit more "squish" on the seal but will the non-concentricity become an issue?

This post has some good info in it:
https://board.moparts.org/ubbthread...r-main-seal-replacement.html#Post2686329

You mentioned you had both OEM and Billet retainers to choose from. If you use the billet one, watch that it has proper clearance so it wont hit the cap as in the post above. I had one that would hit.Ordered a different one and it was fine.
When I re-did my rear seal, I did not use side seals and instead filled them with RTV. This worked out for my situation - no leaks. I was doing the job with the engine in the car and with trans attached. I mention this because if the engine is on a stand and your doing it there, I think you can see if the side seals are sliding in correctly and bottoming out. Plus you can then seal the sides again from outside because trans is not there. But while engine is in the car, you loose that ability.

and Thank you sir, I get tired of trying to help and usually being ignored.

http://www.hughesengines.com/Upload...al_Installation_InstructionsJune2006.pdf
This may help.

CJ -- DO NOT cut the retainer.. it will cause excessive pressure against the seal halves and premature wear.

Regarding the side seals, IF you only inject RTV silicone into those side vertical grooves, you need to add some kind of small wet (watered) felt strip into the side grooves.. because RTV .. with that type of thickness.. must have humidity to fully cure.

Otherwise, using the fiber strips often found in seal kits simply requires the strips to be pre-soaked in mineral spirits so that it will properly swell into the side groove.

Pre-molded rubber side strips may not fill the variable side seal gaps... the gaps vary per various production builds.

That looks right. Getting those side seals all the way down is the hard part. I leave the side seals longer than the cap and work the cap up-and-down so they sit all the way down in the block.
Also use a smear (not much) rtv between block and retainer ends. Make sure crank/seal have lube so the seal does not tear on startup.

That Summit windage tray looks a bit different than the Jegs version? The Jegs version has slips on the side, and that Summit version looks like it has holes?
I used the Jegs version of the windage tray on my 4.25" stroke 440 using an old Mopar Performance Street Hemi oil pan (and the viton rear seal like in the photo), and it sealed great!
Really happy with the results. no drips at all.

On the other hand, the 4.15" stroke low deck stroker was built with the standard rubber rear seal, and sandwitched factory type windage tray, and it is leaking pretty bad, but the milodon oil pan has taken some damage too.
Fixing that oil leak is just another project to get done. I already bought a replacement oil pan, and the Jegs molded windage tray.

Thanks for the feedback

Did you use any RTV or any other type of sealant on the tray/pan? I am picturing a dab of RTV on the joints between the block and retainer/timing cover? Anything else or just install "virgin"?

on the molded windage tray sealing, the seal material will stick to RTV,
If you are going to run the engine on a break-in stand or dyno, I would try installing the tray/gasket dry and then check for leaks. Tray and crankshaft seals.
You can RTV the gasket and depending on the oil pan rail, you might have to, it just makes the tray gasket material like a one-time use.
Once you use RTV with the tray, you will have to use rtv everytime you have the tray and oil pan apart.
Not really an issue if the crank seals (front and rear main) and you don't plan to take the engine apart again for a long time.

It is a good question. I had a 505" stroker that a friend and I build with his kid. Somehow, a piston was installed without the compression rings.
We had put some rtv at the timing chain cover and rear main seal retainer, so that is when I noticed how the rtv bonds with the trays gasket bead material, when going back into the engine.
I need to keep reminding myself to not get distracted when assembling engines, and double check what other people are doing if they are helping.
FWIW, I was filing the rings at the time, not installing the pistons.

I got the rear main, tray, and oil pan put back together around two weeks ago. Here is what I ended up doing:

- offset the two seal halves by 1/16" from the block, glued together with Lock-Tite 518 (Hughes's instructions mentioned this)
- two seal halves were slathered in bearing assembly lube (like maple syrup)
- very light black RTV where the retainer sits on the block (around bolts) and the retainer/block joint for the oil pan
- very light dab of black RTV on each block/timing cover joint
- tray and pan went on dry besides that

I was very positive about this as I went through 5-6 heat cycles and around 2 hours of run time with not a drop of oil. However, I took the Charger for a drive this morning and it was quite cold - right around freezing. When I got home and took a peek, I saw the dreaded drip on the bell housing.

I pulled the inspection cover and looked at it with the borescope. The crank knurling looks every so slightly "wet" like the most minor of leaks. I am wondering if this had anything to do with the super cold drive...

Anyways, I think I am going to put half a container of the Bars Rear Main Seal treatment as an insurance policy. I'm pretty sure I did this "right" or as right as I am going to get it. My oil filter (second new one) is slightly weepy as well (like one drop per drive) so hoping this will seal up these tiny little leaks.