New replacement rear main seal retainer.

[Dandy Dave]

Just wondering if any one else has had a problem with fitting a seal in the new retainers now available? The one I received was not bored out enough and would not take the seal. I set mine up in a lathe and opened it up. The hole was 3.845. I opened it up to 3.870 and the seal was good and snug while pressing it in. Just wondered if anyone else has this problem or if the one I have is a one off?

 

[ricky racer]

Just wondering if any one else has had a problem with fitting a seal in the new retainers now available? The one I received was not bored out enough and would not take the seal. I set mine up in a lathe and opened it up. The hole was 3.845. I opened it up to 3.870 and the seal was good and snug while pressing it in. Just wondered if anyone else has this problem or if the one I have is a one off?

Dave, welcome aboard!! Yes that is a known problem. Forum member, tst offers an exchange service with reworked seal retainers complete with a new seal installed. You can send him your old retainer and he'll send you a reworked unit with a sealed installed. Of course you were able to rework your own retainer but most of us don't have the ability to do that.

 

[tst]

I have been sent a couple of those by others who bought them and seals did not fit, I did not like how it was machined myself, more import quality parts

 

[Dandy Dave]

My old retainer was warped pretty bad where it seals against the block. I understand that is a problem with the originals. I could have resurfaced it, but opted not to because these are thin and flimsy enough as they are. That is why I went for a new replacement. I wonder if the manufacturer has been made aware that this is a problem so it can be corrected? It is a lot easier to make it right the first time. I do understand that the vendors are at the mercy of the manufacturers. Like my old buddy Brian use to say," Stuff from the land of nearly right."

 

[Don McCombs]

First question would be, where did you get the poor quality retainer? Did you let the supplier know about the problem?

 

[RustyWrench]

I think this is probably not just a one-off. Undersized bores on replacement retainers are more common than they should be.

 

[Dandy Dave]

First question would be, where did you get the poor quality retainer? Did you let the supplier know about the problem?

I'd rather not say who the retainer came from because, as I said above, it is a manufacturing problem. One place makes them. The venders get from that one supplier. I sure don't want to piss them off because I have got other parts from them and the stuff was good and worked as it should. I did not let them know as it was easier for me to re-machine it than to ship stuff back and forth with only ending up with another part that also is not machined correctly. Also the time wasted waiting just is not worth the hassle. I will tell you that I am glad I own a machine shop. It has saved me many times. The Cub is back together and running without leaks.