About 6 months ago I helped my buddy assemble his engine after a top end freshening up. Installed a new rear main and some pushrod seals.

Now 6 months later he has these crazy oil leaks. After dropping the engine again we find that the rear main is as hard as a rock and the push rod seals will not come off without breaking in half!

I have an old engine sitting around that has probably never been rebuilt, the old german rear main was still soft and pliable with no cracks.
The seals we used were just something we picked up from the local vw shop, no name on the seal just numbers.

In the future I will have no problem paying top dollar for seals, because doing it twice sucks!
So the question is who makes the best seals that last?

be sure to get silicone or viton pushrod seals. the green ones that came with gasket sets suck. but for rear seals - I've never had problems with them. Is that thing running hot?

Could this engine be running hot? That would cook the seals. This isn't normal, even if you didn't use Viton seals.

I never thought to ask that question. I'll ask him today.