I have a '55 model Ford 600. I had a major leak around the rear of the engine and from other messages it looked like it was the rear seal. Got the oil pan off, they had only used RTV or something similar for the gasket. Took the bearing cap off. Side seals were rope seals, seemed good and dry. It had a neoprene seal and seemed okay, but I put the new one in. Tried to get the top one out and discovered the top half was a rope seal. From a suggest loosened the next main bearing cap to see if the seal would loosen up and realized the bolts on the rear main were not torqued down as much as the center main. So do you think the combination of low rear main torque, mismatched seals and/or poor gasket seal on the pan would have caused the oil leak? Any suggestions on getting the rope seal out? Do I need to remove the barb in the top to install a neoprene seal? Can I do this with the crank in or will I have to take it all the way out? You seem knowledgable on this. Hope you can help out.