I did almost the exact same thing as Brian last year on my 1942 B. Mine had the spiral as well, and I didn't sleeve it. I don't CA's ever had the groove in the crank, so you will probably have to sleeve it or do something like I did.
I'm cheap, so I followed some advice and filled in the groove with JB weld. Let that dry, then just filed it down even with the crankshaft. The JB weld just fills in the groove so oil doesn't run out; the seal doesn't ride on it, so you don't have to worry about it wearing down.
My engine was in the tractor though, so I just stuck the cover on and eyeballed it as best I could. After tightening it down, I could tell it was a hair off, but I was reassured it would still work as long as it's pretty close, and it's still leak free today. Words can't describe how proud I was to not have to stick a catch pan under the engine as soon as I shut it off.
Oh...one other thing....the early B's (mine included) have a smaller hole in the timing cover for a smaller seal. From what I could find, only the newer, larger seal is available. I picked one up at Hutch from DJ's. I just used a Dremel to grind out my hole so the new seal could press in. Naturally, the enlargement I did wasn't perfectly round, so I pressed in the seal and ran a small bead of sealant around its circumference.
That's one thing I like really about the B engines. The crank seals are pretty easy to replace. Lip seal on front and 1 piece felt seal on back. None of those cursed rope seals, like my 8N has.
Edited by CrestonM - 26 Sep 2017 at 2:07pm
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