Last night, after shimming Redraif's distributor, reinstalling it, and setting the timing, I started jacking up the car to install a stall convertor and shift kit and noticed a large puddle of oil under the car! I thought that maybe the oil filter adapter was leaking, or maybe the sending unit blew out, but there was a slight dripping from the hole in the bottom of the convertor/flywheel cover. The rear main seal had a slight leak that I knew about (enough to mist a little oil, not severe), but apparently a major part of the seal blew out while I was setting the timing.

Anybody ever had this happen? I have experienced rear main seal leaks before, some pretty severe, but I have never seen one go from a slight, barely noticeable leak to gushing a quart of oil out on the floor within three hours of the car being parked! I smelled the oil before I saw it, so I really think it happened minutes before I jacked the car up. I'm pulling the trans tonight anyway, but just wanted to see if anyone has had this problem before.

 

New O ring on the distributor?

There is also a cam cover on the back of the block that is known to leak. IIRC a while ago someone here posted about a repair kit for it. Apparently they can leak pretty bad.

RBob.

 

That was one of my first thoughts, too (the distributor o-ring). Its not new, but fairly fresh, and still sealing fine. No oil around the dist at all. The intake and valve cover gaskets are all sealing fine also. I'll be pulling the trans tonight anyway, so if its the cam cover I guess that will be obvious then. Good timing for it to go out! Thanks again for your help, thats twice in two days!