Pre-war (up to 1942) 1939 346 Crank shaft oil slinger

[houseboats1]

Thanks in advance I recently pulled my 346 out of my 39 and stripped it down and took the block to the machine shop. When I received it back I was about to put the crank back in the block when I noticed I only have 1/2 an oil slinger in the rear main bearing cap. My question is should I have another 1/2 that goes in the recess in the block also, I cant find any diagrams in the engine manual. Thanks

[harry s]

'39 should have a rear main seal and not a slinger. Can you post some pictures?    Harry

[houseboats1]

Harry these are the pictures Thanks Mark

[harry s]

I'm have not seen a piece like that before. It looks like the remnants of a lip seal maybe used sometime in the past. The parts book shows the same part number for '38 thru '48 for the rear main seal and is described as "packing". There is an expanded view in the parts book but my camera isn't working so I can't post a picture. Maybe someone can do that.   Harry

[Warren Rauch #4286]

    The factory seal from 1938-1957 was a rope like packing. It was used in top and bottom .  Run a search in this forum on "rear main"  You will find that some people found a Mercedes rubber seal that could be used as a replacement. Your car likely has one half of such a seal.

Warren

[harry s]

The Mercedes seal part number is 001 997 12 41. It is pretty much like the rope seal only made of a braided synthetic material. It comes in one piece and has to be cut to size. There is no metal ring or retainer.    Harry

[Brad Ipsen CLC #737]

I have seen this piece before.  You need this for the rope seal to work in the cap you have.  Instead of having this piece some have this function cast into the part itself.  How about the block half.  Does it have this or a part of the block itself to form the groove for the rope seal.

[harry s]

What Brad says makes sense as in looking at the main cap picture the seal gap would be too wide without the insert. Also I think there is a drain at the bottom of the cap that would be covered if the seal were not seperated. In checking the parts book the rear main cap is the same for '38 & '39 with '41 up being different. As I recall the later caps have the ridge cast in place. It will interesting to see if the block has the ridge cast in or maybe it is just more narrow to accommodate the seal.
Harry

[houseboats1]

Thanks for all the input in the end I made one