My question is can I change the rear main seal with the engine still in the car? It is a two peice seal. I have read some articals saying that it can be done but it mostly depends on wether you can drop the pan with the motor installed and that is car specific. After that you can pull the rear cap, use a punch to push the top seal around enough to pull it out the rest of the way with plier (DONT SCRATCH CRANK). Then turn the crank while feeding in the new upper seal and the lower install like normal, then re-torque the cap. Install pan with new gasket. Does this sound doable? Has anyone ever done it?

I dont feel like pullin the motor but if it has to be done then I will do it. I have already had the thing in and out of there like 4 times for "upgrades". I am just hoping to make this repair easy on myself.

Yeah it can be done in the car but you are going to have to rotate the crank so that the front counterweight goes up in the block and you will have to lift the engine about 4" on both sides to get the pan off. It is not a fun job but I have done it in the car.

I have done it years ago on my 66 Malibu with a 283, the only problem you may have is you may need to jack the engine/tranny up enough to work in the narrow space between the tranny and pan, undo the motor mounts and tranny mount, jack up the tranny/engine just a little so you can drop the pan and move it forward to remove the main cap bolts then you should be able to use a small screw driver to push the top seal half around to get a grip with pliers, lifting the engine in the car means that you may have to drop the exhaust and make sure the hood is up and your dizzy is clear of the firewall, you will only have a few inches till the tranny hits the floor tunnel so take your time and have someone watch the top under the hood for you be careful not to hit or move the oil pump pickup

Take your time and good luck

Cool...... Sounds like it is doable. I changed a pan gasket in a 82 capri with it still in the car. It is a pain but never tried the rear main seal in the car. I will probably pull and mark the dizzy so I can jack it up high as possible. It should be fun :rolleyes:
It will be nice to have a dry under body. Between this leak and the two valve cover leaks I already fixed my under carriage was an oily mess!