Rear main seal on an 8 cylinder, and rod bearings

[chrysleritis]

Couple of engine bearing questions: 

I'd like to replace the drippy rear main seal on the 1941 Chrysler New Yorker, which has the 8 cylinder engine. It's constructed a little differently than the 6 cylinder engines. My question: how to get off the rear main bearing cap? The manual of course advises using the appropriate Miller tool, which nobody has any more. It's just a puller, but it's the correct size for the job. Does anyone here have any experience and hard-won wisdom to share about removing this cap with an improvised puller? I think I can just make something up with a piece of metal bar stock and put a couple of pieces of hardwood between it and the bottom block surface and thread a piece of rod into the threaded hole on the cap and it should go. But I would appreciate advice if anyone has done this job. 

 

Also, the clearance on the connecting rod bearings is now at just over 0.0015", and as long as I have the bottom end open, I will replace those. I think these bearings indicate that they are undersized to 0.010" -- does that seem like what these markings are saying? 

 

 

Also, the shaft side of the bearing. Photo looks worse than it is -- the surface is worn and there's discoloration, but none of these lines can be felt at all, and the journals and crankshaft are still beautiful. 

 

[Dodgeb4ya]

Put two 4-6" long 5/16" X 18tpi bolts in the main cap.

Wiggle and pull out the main cap.

Also using a steel 12" long 3/8"+ diameter  rod pushed into one if the cap bolt holes to help loosen the main cap helps too.

You can remove those caps easy enough this way. I have done many like this.

It appears that they look like .010" under rod bearings....

But I would use a micrometer on the crank pin (journal) to be absolutely sure.

Rotate the crank away from the rod to do so.

[chrysleritis]

They're studs in the main cap there -- so remove the studs and then run in a long bolt or rod to be able to lever/wiggle a bit? Thanks for the info. 

[chrysleritis]

Nevermind, I see what you mean. Will give it a go. 

[chrysleritis]

I spent half an afternoon replicating the Miller Tool C-305 puller for the bearing cap and that did it very easily. Otherwise I could not persuade it to wiggle at all.

The crankshaft at the connecting rod journal location measures 2.178" diameter, which is close to 2 3/16" (spec in the manual) - 0.010", so it seems it might have been resurfaced some decades ago. So I'll go with the 010 undersize bearings. 

 

 

Edited May 25 by chrysleritis

[Dodgeb4ya]

Good going.I didn't realize your main cap had studs.

Whole new ball game.

1946 up never used studs.

A small slide hammer would pull the cap out too.

A picture of a Dodge truck  four bolt main cap I wiggled out not long ago...3" mains...