What month in late 1982 did ford start putting 1 piece rear main seals in the 302s? Ive got a 1983 full size bronco that was built in November of 1982. The rear main seal is getting the drippys. Trying to find out which rear seal is in there. The engine has to be removed, or the trans has to be dropped along with the flywheel to change the 1 piece seal right? Im going to replace the oil pan and gasket anyway pretty soon. I figured if it was a 2 piece seal i would just drop the rear main bearing cap and change the rear seal while im at it. But if its the 1 piece seal, I'll let someone else deal with all that.

 

Assuming you are talking about the rear main seal for the crankshaft, a one piece design is ubber easy to replace and does not require the removal of the oil pan much less the rear bearing cap.

I believe the two piece is "302" specific and a one piece is "5.0" specific.

Pulling the block side half of the two-piece rear main seal with the crank into place is much harder (and it's not that hard!) than replacing a one piece.

Keep researching...or hopefully someone here can answer your "what style rear mains seal does an '82 have?" question with certainty.

 

Looking at O'reillyauto website, they say 2-piece through 11/30/82, 1-piece from 12/1/82 for Fel-Pro seals on the 302.

Looking at Federal Mogul website catalog (they own Fel-Pro, National, Sealed Power) they say the same thing. Federal Mogul is the source, the auto part retailers use the vendor's info for their look-up tables.

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The procedure for installing a 2-piece is in quite a few old manuals, have to loosen ALL of the mains, to drop the crankshaft no more than 1/32nd of an inch, and pull the rear cap like you mention. Lube and sealer applied properly. There is a procedure to it, but it sure would beat pulling an engine, or dropping drive shafts and pulling the trans w/transfer case to do a 1-piece!

Now, if it were on an engine stand, then doing a 1-piece would be easier