I just put my timing cover on and the one side is flush but the other side is about 1/32 lower than the block. Is that anout something that the gasket and silicone adhesive will seal it? Or do I need to pull it all off and
Try to get it higher on the one side.

Hmmmm... A bit rusty on this, Ray, but my recollection is aligning the bottom edge of the timing cover with the edges of the block oil pan surface for purposes of properly locating the timing cover seal with the crank snout for installation of the front damper to assure concentricity.I'm sure someone who has done this more recently will chime in on this for you...


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

Center it on the crank seal, That's more important than the sides of the cover versus the block. This is a casting( I''ve made a few) and they aren't extremely accurate dimensionally. The machining, holes and milling should relate to each other, but not necessarily to all the cast surfaces..

Frank/Rebop

Bristol, In ( by Elkhart) 

Ray I had this situation also.  There is supposed to be a tool that goes over the damper snout to properly align the cover.  In a perfect world the timing cover seal will be perfectly centred around the damper and also flush with the bottom of the block.  Centering the cover on the damper snout is tricky without the tool.  On my first attempt I installed the damper before bolting the timing cover to the block.  Unfortunately the weight of the timing cover deflects the seal enough to result in a misalignment. On the next attempt I tightened the timing cover bolts just enough to hold it and then pressed the damper on until the leading edge of the snout was just about to contact the seal.  At that point you can adjust the position of the cover until the seal is centred on the leading edge of the damper snout.  The leading edge is slightly beveled so it is readily centred.  At the same time try and rotate the timing cover enough to get the bottom edges of the timing cover flush with the bottom of the block.  You might have to compromise.  I leaned toward centering the front seal as I felt that the oil pan gasket would accommodate a slight misalignment.   I would rather deal with an oil pan gasket leak than a front seal leak.  Time will tell.  Good luck.


Mark

1956 Mercury M100
1955 Ford Fairlane Club Sedan
Delta, British Columbia

I cut the snout off an old harmonic balancer, placed it on the crank and used that as a guide for the timing cover.


South Australia

This is what I need to do - thanks for the tip. I am sure I have some old balancers somewhere in the stash that have broken pulleys and what have you.

Daniel Jessup

Lancaster, California

aka "The Hot Rod Reverend"
check out the 1955 Ford Fairlane build at www.hotrodreverend.com

lyonroad  has a beter aproach,as unless the block is sitting on bell end ,the weight of the front cover will be easey to manage. the seal is not a good centering gauge. i grind the sholder  of the front cover seal stop so seal can be changed with out removal of cover,and when instaling cover a sleev that rests on seal machined aria would alighn the cover true to crank. idealy get front coverstop machined true to seal aria,tho the next isue becomes geting the seal in strait.