Surprisingly, the engine shop apologized and is going to fix the leak. We took the engine there 7/15. He will check to confirm the leak is from the rear seal. If so, probably replace it with a rope seal. Too many "ifs" with the lip seal. I've spoken with many people about our problem. Everyone I spoke to who has put a lip seal in a Pontiac has had at least one failure. Some have found that the seal groove is eccentric with the main bearing centerline--up to .020", which results in a tight seal on one side and no contact on the other. Also, the serrations on the crankshaft seal journal tend to wear the lip if they're too pronounced. The only failure on rope seals was one guy who packed it too tight and burned up the seal.

I'll report on what was done next week.

Meanwhile, we rustproofed the quarter panels inside the trunk, around the wheel wells, and in front of the rear wheels. We rustproofed the four sides of the trunk lid between the sheet metal and bracing. We rustproofed the rear window bottom channel in the area between the window channel and inside the trunk. We also did the drip rail area on both sides since there is no headliner in the way. Also the sail panels are off, so we did the pillar area above the weatherstrip. Both doors were done inside from top to bottom. We used Eastwood black internal panel rustproofing. Four cans so far.