i was wondering if i needed to go through the trouble of dropping the pan to take off the rear cap to replace side seals and main seal rather than just slide out the main seal and skip the sides.

i did pull the pan mainly because i couldnt get the main seal off.

good thing i did: the side seals that were in there didnt have the nails installed and tom monroes book says to use sealer on the cap in a couple of places. never could have done this properly without dropping the pan.

Good information. Thanks for sharing.