Is this the stock timing cover for a 231? Problems with a seal...

Ok, the rebuild was going well tonight until we got ready to put the timing cover seal in. The seal from the kit was way too small and fell through the hole.

There's a casting number on the front of the timing cover, it's 1264953

After a trip to my FLAPS and a bunch of searching I just can't find the right seal.










Original seal, it has a metal flange on it (we thought it was a carrier or something so we pulled it apart before we realized that it was an integral part of the seal.


Seal that came with my kit


The two seals side by side.

 

almost looks like the new one will fit inside the old one, but that can not be right.
Are those seals different between the 225 and the 231?

 

The hole in the front cover looks wrong. The basic cover looks right but that hole is very large, almost like its been bored out. I don't remember the front cover of firefighter mikes having that thin lip and large hole.

 

That's what I'm thinking... I'm wondering if this is an aftermarket cover or something.

 

What is the diameter of the hole in the timing cover???????????

 

I grabbed my calipers and it's 2.72". That seal with the metal flange was pressed in there.

 

the national seal has a outer diameter of 2.754, should work...... i suppect that the fel-pro would also work.



FEL-PRO Part # 15200
Rubber one-piece timing cover seal
More Info
$4.13 $0.00 $4.13
BCA/NATIONAL Part # 710162 {Oil Seal / Fluoroelastomers / Shaft Size=1.937" Housing Bore=2.75" Outer Diameter=2.754" Width=0.313"}
More Info
$14.79 $0.00 $14.79

good luck

 

Neither of those have the metal flange on them though... I'm wondering how they're supposed to stay in.

 

look very closely at your old seal and flange. you might find that they are two separate parts. knot the seal out of the flange and install the new seal in the flanged piece and install in the cover.
back in the day the front seal was rope and they used a round u-channel to hold the rope. when they switched to rubber seals you would knot the old u-channel out and install the seal..

 

We thought the same thing and tried pulling out the rubber. You can see where the rubber was damaged, but I can't see how they are, and even if we got it out there's no way the replacement one will fit in that flange.

 

It just dawned on me, the factory seal is pressed in from the back on the 231. It bottoms out on the front of the cast housing, someone has bored that cover to a larger size (reason ?) and replaced the seal with a different one.
231 timing cover

350 timing cover:

big block timing cover

 

I went over to a different flaps and the guy there measured the original and started digging. The seal from an 83-85 231 looks like it will fit, it's going to be pretty snug but it should work.

 

there was a book by Pat Ghanal,i most likely spelled the last name wrong,called buick v-6 perfomance. i seem to remember in it about boring the timing cover and putting a seal from the rear axle of a chevrolet in it.you could replace it with out removing the timing cover. it's been 15 or 16 years ago i read it. may be some one else here read it and knows what i'm trying to remember after all these years. this may be the same set up as yours.

 

That may have been what happened.

I took it into a different FLAPS and one of the guys at the counter took out his calipers and measured the opening and the bearing and dug around in his stock until he came up with one that fit. It took some coaxing with a hammer but it's in there and looks like it will work.

 

It's a possibility, the new bearing could be pushed in from the front but considering how hard it was to get in there it would be impossible to get it in without pulling the cover.

 

it has been 15 or so years ago. i also at that time was dealing with Jim Ruggles in atlanta when he was building buick v-6's for racing and for grand nationals and may have got the info from him.
i did make one timing cover then to use this seal. used a dremel tool enlarge the hole to the correct diameter.the cover never did leak. i will look around tomorrow and see if i can find out if i still have the info about it.

 

i've looked and can't find nothing on it. may be one day i'll run across it.if and when i do i'll post it.