While she'* in pieces, I'm certainly gonna replace rear main seal. Has anyone ever used the sleeve kits from Timkin and/or Felpro - light press fit over crankshaft to give that seal a new surface to ride on? The sleeve measures .012" thick, which essentially means the diameter of the crank where the seal rides is gonna grow .024" (or slightly more) in diameter.. They don't sell an oversized seal to compensate, I'm a little nervous about that extra "strain" this will put on the seal.. Years past, you had to be VERY careful about seal specs, premature failure was common. I also hate installing new seals on older surfaces with the inevitable slight groove that is always there. Harmonic balancers are no big deal, heck, almost fun to change those. I don't want to pull this thing apart again. Thoughts and experiences please..

Mike

On most crankshafts, doesn't the flywheel mounting flange get in the way of installing the resizing sleeve? It should work on the harmonic balancer end of the crank but I don't think it will on the rear main.

I have not studied that yet, but I know what you mean, thinking back to the older engines.. but the rear main seal is a one-part round seal, and it'* a big sucker, so I'm assuming there'* no flange, or it can be removed.. And there are listings for this re-sleeve for this car..
But you know, I've been told by others that it can't be done... I suppose I could take a hack-saw to the crankshaft to install the new seal, then weld it back together!! LOL! Mike

I've sleeved lots of cranks with the standard seal and never had a premature failure yet. There is a lot of "wiggle room" with most rear main seals. Since the pressure on the crank is mostly determined by the spring inside the seal these days, not the size of the seal, you've got lots of room to play with. Wear shouldn't be an issue as the seal is well lubricated from the inside.

Thanks for the reply, ol' drunk one.. :) A veteran wrencher of the 60-70'* small block Chevys said the same thing, but thought I would get some input from someone who messes with our engines. Thanks again. Mike