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While I've had the parts to replace the rear main seal on my '51 200 Deluxe for several years, I haven't work up the desire to jack up the car and crawl underneath the beast in order to replace the seal until now.

The question I would like to pose to those more knowledgeable than I on the subject is will I be able to remove the pan from the engine as it sits in the car? If not, what will I need to do in order to remove the pan to get to the rear seal?

Thanks in advance for any and all inputs.

It's pretty close quarters up front to access the pan bolts over the front cross member, and once the pan is loose you may have to rotate the crankshaft a bit for the counterweights to clean the pan, but otherwise removing the pan is a pretty straight forward job.

Unbolt and drop the idler arm so the steering linkage is out of the way. Remove the bottom half of the bell housing. Note you do not have to remove the sealing strip at the back of the pan, It will come away with the bell housing.


Be certain that your rear seal is really leaking. They are not prone to it, but every other leak on the engine will find its way back there. If it is not coming out the weep hole on the bell, the rear seal is not leaking.

Dave & Ross,

Thanks for the info and hints about doing the job. I'll make sure that the oil is coming out of the weep hole before I go to replace the seal.

It may be a while before I tackle the job, but will try to remember to let everyone know how it goes after i get it done.

I watched this video series from a '47 which has all of the same steps that I needed to remove the pan from my '52. Hope this helpsyoutube.com/watch?v=8uyrBl3oq0I