I have a completely restored 1940 Royal Coupe, the engine has been completely overhauled. I now have a tiny oil leak, it is not the rear main, could it be the front timing cover seal or possibly the side valve cover gasket. That one looks ok, but are there other areas that could be possible suspects? I drive the car several times a week. When parked on level ground, there will be a few drips, when parked on a grade, nose up, nothing.
Probable Oil Leak/Flathead Six
Dec 15, 2006
4 Replies
Have you thought about trying some UV dye?
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
Probably will have to go that route. It is the 241c.i. six, runs great. All the other flatheads that I have had all had some little leak or another. Was this just "the way things were" in those days? My 48 Plymouth and 49 Windsor both had little drips and it was hard to find exactly where they were coming from. Finally found out that one of them was coming from where the blow-by tube went into the block.
Don't know - that was before my time.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
Well, my '49 Plymouth (217.5) is fairly drippy, but then it hasn't been apart since 1964, either (got the receipts for that overhaul which were in my grandfather's files). But I've also seen a number of them that were REALLY tight and clean, so I don't think that's necessarily "the way it was." Check the distributor base gasket, the oil fill tube O-ring, etc. Sometimes its the little things that give the trouble.
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