FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => FE Technical Forum => Topic started by: AlanCasida on August 05, 2023, 07:33:18 PM
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Today I finally bit the bullet and tore into the 390 in my '67 F250 to replace the front and rear crankshaft seals. I was looking over the crankshaft spacer and although it's not too bad, it could use a speedy-sleeve. I thought "Oh no. I might need the part I dread more than any other to ask for at the local chain parts store. More than once have I gotten the deer in the headlights look from some young tattooed gal behind the counter when I asked for a speedy-sleeve. I'll check their inventory on line and get the part number so they won't have a melt down. The groove is really light but it's there.
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No question, a trip to the parts store can be daunting. I have quite a collection of old parts catalogs, due to having spent quite a few years in the automotive/heavy truck parts industry. It is always good to have part numbers on hand, whenever possible. The mentality of the retail parts industry is to have a computer catalog system replace the knowledge of a seasoned parts person (who often is mechanically experienced as well). They can keep their labor expenses down in this manner. They hire store managers who often don't have a shred of automotive knowledge, they just have management experience (a local AZ has a manager from the fast food business, no car experience)--it's a bit scary. I only use these places in an emergency, as I can order my parts from Rock Auto/online and save a lot of cash and potential heartache. The only downfall is if you have a warranty issue, but I've yet to have an issue after all these years. Of course, there are still some parts stores that are more geared towards automotive professionals, and they typically have more knowledgeable employees.
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I kinda despise speedy sleeves.
I consider them a temporary fix until you can buy a new part,
or you are selling the car and just want to "temporarily fix" the leak.
At my work place I've installed quite a few over the years and many of them came back leaking, some within a few weeks.
Customers choice for the sleeve when informed that either a new part was needed or a sleeve.
Also informed the customer that the sleeve fix "may leak later".
Also worked on many vehicles where someone else had installed one, and they were leaking too.
And yes, I've done all the tricks where you fill the groove with epoxy of some kind.
They still leak.
That FE crank spacer is available in steel or aluminum. check eBay.
Here's one not on eBay....
https://cnc-motorsports.com/cnc-motorsports-ford-fe-balancer-spacer-for-internal-balance-crankshaft.html (https://cnc-motorsports.com/cnc-motorsports-ford-fe-balancer-spacer-for-internal-balance-crankshaft.html)
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I have had some FE crank sleeves that had noticeable grooves from the seal, that never leaked despite the groove. That said, I always use the factory slinger behind the timing cover, which I have to think helps keep oil away from the seal area.
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I use speedy sleeves all the time and have never had one leak. To me the issue is alignment of the hole in the timing cover with the crankshaft. If they are not perfectly concentric the seal will leak, no matter if its on a speedy sleeve or not. I built a tool a long time ago that ensures proper alignment; it looks like a donut that slides over the crankshaft, and fits into the hole in the timing cover. Gets the cover perfectly aligned every time.
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I use speedy sleeves all the time and have never had one leak. To me the issue is alignment of the hole in the timing cover with the crankshaft. If they are not perfectly concentric the seal will leak, no matter if its on a speedy sleeve or not. I built a tool a long time ago that ensures proper alignment; it looks like a donut that slides over the crankshaft, and fits into the hole in the timing cover. Gets the cover perfectly aligned every time.
Same here. I have a universal one that slides over the snout. It's FE on one side and Cleveland/Windsor on the other.
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I use Speedy Sleeves all the time to repair seal grooved surfaces. Make it easy for the parts person and tell them you need a National 99187.
I found a chart of Speedy-Sleeve (aka Ready-Sleeve) from .472" up to 8" with the part numbers. I printed it and hung it on my wall at the shop. Luckily, to find the correct part number right now, i have a crank spacer sitting on the bench to measure and determine which sleeve we need.
In one of my videos I show using a Speedy-Sleeve. At 26:39 in video #6:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZcyyjKO9qI&t=1s
Or you can watch the whole play list:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmd7EZ1chb35RrQhM_lD38cY39Nu3QaNZ
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I use Speedy Sleeves all the time to repair seal grooved surfaces. Make it easy for the parts person and tell them you need a National 99187.
I found a chart of Speedy-Sleeve (aka Ready-Sleeve) from .472" up to 8" with the part numbers. I printed it and hung it on my wall at the shop. Luckily, to find the correct part number right now, i have a crank spacer sitting on the bench to measure and determine which sleeve we need.
In one of my videos I show using a Speedy-Sleeve. At 26:39 in video #6:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZcyyjKO9qI&t=1s
Or you can watch the whole play list:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmd7EZ1chb35RrQhM_lD38cY39Nu3QaNZ
That's exactly what I did. I also ask for a balancer repair sleeve now. I remember the first time I asked for a speedi-sleeve the gal's eyes got real big, she had no idea. I didn't know what else it was called. It was kind of funny. Fortunately there was another, more experienced person there who knew what I was asking for.
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That's exactly what I did. I also ask for a balancer repair sleeve now. I remember the first time I asked for a speedi-sleeve the gal's eyes got real big, she had no idea. I didn't know what else it was called. It was kind of funny. Fortunately there was another, more experienced person there who knew what I was asking for.
Maybe "Speedy-Sleeve" has some sexual reference in her generation? A long time ago, when I worked on boats. We stopped by this guy's shop, named Kevin. It was at 8am. He called the local auto parts store for a speedy-sleeve. Over the next couple minutes he said "Speedy-Sleeve" about 4 or 5 more times. With each time getting progressively firmer. Then Kevin yells into the phone "SPEEDY SLEEVE! SPEEDY SLEEVE! YOU TOWEL HEAD M-F'er!!!! and hung up. I looked at my boss and he said "Kevin isn't a morning person..." (the opinions expressed do not represent the view of the author)
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As far as aligning the timing cover goes, I have never had a problem centering the cover by using the actual crank spacer . I just put some oil on the seal riding surface, slide the spacer onto the crank snout, into the seal, and snug the cover bolts once you align the pan gasket surfaces of the block and timing cover.
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I use speedy sleeves all the time. I mix up some JB weld, fill in the groove and while it still wet. Drive the sleeve on! Works very well. JMHO
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I have found that some of the speedi-sleeves are not quite long enough - the end of the sleeve is very close to the seal lip when installed.
A minute on the lathe will get you a reduced diameter on the nose of the spacer to push the sleeve back a touch.
Of course a few more minutes on the lathe will get the big side of the spacer cut down and you can just flip it around and not bother with the speedi-sleeve at all...
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Or, couldn`t you make a shim, possibly from the metal section of another front crank seal, to put between the timing cover and the new crank seal, which would place the seal lip a bit further rearward, to ride on a "new" area on the crank sleeve , behind the groove worn into the sleeve? Like I said earlier, I have used some spacers that had fairly noticeable grooves in them, but never leaked.
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What's to "dread" about a repair sleeve? About simple as a rock, take the spacer with you to the parts store and ask for a repair sleeve to fit it. Saying repair sleeve instead of "speedy sleeve" helps a lot
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What's to "dread" about a repair sleeve? About simple as a rock, take the spacer with you to the parts store and ask for a repair sleeve to fit it. Saying repair sleeve instead of "speedy sleeve" helps a lot
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i worked in a glass factory for 33 years,as a joke we used to send new guys to the store room to ask for a glass stretcher.once a piece of glass is too short its too short.you would be surprised how many people thought it was a real tool.