[Dollar Bill]

Tom, it's hard to argue with your success. My thoughts were the two parting lines of the upper and lower rope seals would afford two additional points for leaks. Both my 8Ns were overhauled using rope seals and both of them leak. I do respect your point of view and again, it's hard to argue with your success but there must be a reason why the rope was abandoned in favor of the one piece seal. One consideration is the rope requires greater skill or a certain technique to achieve a satisfactory seal than isn't necessary with the one piece derivation. Having said that, I still have not committed to the one piece seal and gladly welcome hearing others experience with the rubber seal.

Mitch, the amount of oil flowing out couldn't come from the oil pan bolts. The bottom of the car will never rust as most everything from the crankshaft pulley back is wet with oil. But your reply did make me aware of the need to seal the oil pan bolts that penetrate the crankcase. I likely would not have considered this without you mentioning it.