Pre-war (up to 1942) 1941 Flathead Timing Chain Cover Gasket Replacement

[J. Russo]

Is it possible to replace the front timing chain cover gasket with the engine in the car?

Does anyone know of a documented procedure and level of difficulty to do this?

Thank you

[toybox]

Hi John, Yes it can be done but it is time consuming with a lot of time bent over the fender. Now , I have a 46 which is not exactly like your 41 but close. It should take the average car guy around three days(24 hours)depending on how much clean up and painting they do. Gen off,fan off ,drain coolant, radiator out, fuel pump off, pull the crank pully. It's not rocket sci ,just digging in with a few skinned knuckles along the way. Why are you changing your gasket? If it's a oil leak look  around your fuel first . Timing covers seldom leak unless they were poorly installed or the bolts have come loose.  Tim   PS.I had a bad crank seal on the old engine.

[J. Russo]

Tim,

I probably should have looked closer at this when I had my radiator out and a lot of my engine dismantled.

I stripped my engine to bare metal a couple years ago and repainted it after installing all of the gaskets on top of the engine.

I have a greasy residue that forms more so near the bottom of the front of the engine and on the frame just under the radiator. This could either be from the oil pan gasket or maybe the timing chain cover. I'm not familiar with what is behind that cover, but if there isn't supposed to be any oil flow, that would narrow it down to the oil pan gasket. I changed the pan gasket about 4 years ago. I'm also not losing much oil other than about 1/2 quart every few hundred miles. It's not serious enough for me to take things apart again. I just wanted to find the source.

Thanks,
John

[LaSalle5019]

I'll post a few photos to help you see how it is assembled





Now the important part. To seal the rotating crankshaft to the timing chain cover, this engine does not use the typical stationary lip or felt seal in the cover, sealing against a rotating pulley hub. Instead it has what may be considered a slinger and a face seal which rotates with the crankshaft and has a spring that exerts light pressure against the backside of the timing chain cover. The rotating cork seals against the stationary cast iron timing chain cover. The setup is similar to what you might find on the backside of an impeller in a pump. In the timing chain cover seal set for this engine you will get a gasket and a new cork to install in the slinger/seal assembly. What you won't get is the part that seals against the oil pan. I guess you could pull the oil pan and replace that entire gasket but you don't have to. Instead you can cut the old oil pan gasket flush to the face of the timing cover face and just make your own little piece of gasket (have to use the same thickness) where the bottom of the timing chain cover mates to the oil pan. You will want to put a small bead of Permatex "The Right Stuff" in the corners. I've done this procedure several times on various engines with 100% success.



Hope this helps.
Scott

[toybox]

It sounds like you have the normal heavy vapor weep at the crank seal. If it's not dripping you don't have a problem. I have to wipe mine down every two or three hundred miles to keep it nice. Tim