M38Cdn Refurbishment

[rob love]

The last engine I did was about 5 years back. The lack of availability of the rear main seal swayed me to putting in the rope seal. It leaked for a very short time, then sealed up.

John Bizal sells what is reputed to be the Best brand rear seal. The old part number for the military is reported as National 5585, but no longer made. The civilian seals that were a problem are reported as part number 800093.

[chris vickery]

Just have an engine back from rebuild. My engine builder threw away the rear main as supplied with the kit (from a MV parts dealer) because it was way too tight.
He opted for the old school rope seal for my build.

[Peter Phillips]

Originally Posted by rob love

The last engine I did was about 5 years back. The lack of availability of the rear main seal swayed me to putting in the rope seal. It leaked for a very short time, then sealed up.

John Bizal sells what is reputed to be the Best brand rear seal. The old part number for the military is reported as National 5585, but no longer made. The civilian seals that were a problem are reported as part number 800093.

OK sounds good, I guess time will tell what happens with this one. I'll definitely refrain from putting the tub on until I see what happens in case I need to pluck the motor out again.

[super dave]

As rob says Midwest Military usually carries them but are out at the moment but you can purchase them on ebay part number 3B71

[Peter Phillips]

Originally Posted by super dave

As rob says Midwest Military usually carries them but are out at the moment but you can purchase them on ebay part number 3B71

Excellent Dave, thanks again!

[Peter Phillips]

I've started welding up holes, dealing with dents and applying color to some of the bigger pieces that were previously sand blasted. I'm fairly happy with the results although the hood kicked my butt a bit causing me to sand and paint 3 times. You can see in one picture I ended up with some dry spots which were unacceptable. I had to go to Cloverdale in Lloydminster (~2 hours away) to get a new gallon of paint and was shocked to find even though the codes are the same and the dot on top looks good, the paint obviously isn't correct even after drying. Guess I'm going back next weekend I also had a great conversation with John Bizal and now have two types (Best Seal & OEM) of rear main seals to try which he recommends to have on hand in case one is too tight. Once the fenders and tailgate are painted it's on to the tub which will take time.

[Peter Phillips]

The tailgate is definitely going to be a challenge with the amount of repairs needed. I cut off an unexplained extra tab that was welded on the tailgate which has a match on the tub also. I intend to weld up as much as I can with bondo used sparingly. I'm looking for suggestions on how to deal with the formerly brazed holes which will hamper welding where they need filling. Metal filler maybe?

[Peter Phillips]

Picking away at this still. Got the tailgate fixed up some and painted as well as the battery box and steering box/column. As you can see there's some work to the tub to do which is where I'll spend the next month on.