Check out this beautiful 1967 Chevrolet Camaro we recently got in! This camaro has a 454 big block in it that has been destroked to a 427 with high compression. The owner also had a 5 speed manual transmission swapped in as well as a ton of other modifications such as modern brakes and adjustable suspension components needed to handle the massive power plant. Cars such as this one are commonly known as “resto-mods”, in which the car is restored to look and seem original but is modified to have more modern features.
This client came in with a concern for an oil leak, specifically from the rear main crankshaft seal. The owner also noted non-functioning HVAC. Doing the rear main seal requires the transmission to be removed because this seal is located between the engine and the transmission behind the flywheel. Normally on this kind of job we would also recommend changing the fluid and bearings that are a part of the assembly. However, we found something interesting while checking the car over and specifying the leak.
At first glance we saw what the owner was talking about and why he believed the rear main seal was leaking. There was clearly visible oil coming out from between the engine and transmission, and all around the rear main seal. To be sure, we cleaned the engine of all the oil that had leaked and took the car on our normal test drive route. After pulling it back in and putting it in the air, we were able to trace the oil leak from its origin, and realized that it was actually not the rear main seal that was leaking. Instead, we traced the leak to the back end of the valve cover gaskets. We tried a couple of different sets that still resulted in a leak before finally finding a set that stopped the leak. We are glad we found that it was the valve cover gaskets because they are much less time consuming and cheaper to do, and we were able to save the client some money on this job. This also allows us to get further into the HVAC issue without going over budget. You can always trust us to take care of you like family and keep your best interests in our hearts any way we can!