[oldave57]

Removal of the upper half of the rope seal is nearly an impossible task with the crankshaft in place. It can be done, but as you know from experience it is very difficult. One trick that I did on a 1954 Ford I had years ago as a second car (239 Y-Block) was to leave the old rope seal on the upper half and run a steel wire under the seal (between the seal and seal housing). The best wire to use would be something like a choke cable (those kits are pretty cheap) because it needs to be a stiff wire to be able to push it under the seal. As I recall, it was fairly easy to start the wire under the seal and then push it a little at a time with pliers gripping as close as possible to the seal split line so the wire didn't bend. You push the wire until it goes completely around the upper half, then clip it off even with the seal split and install a new rope seal in the lower half cap. I know it sounds very "shade tree" but it worked very well on that old car which I kept for a couple years after the seal fix.

Good luck,
Dave