2Biz, thanks, appreciate the info. And the pics are an extra mile too
I did know all that, & agree with your conclusion that it wont last.
The sleeve was REALLY loose, I could actually wiggle it around with my finger when I set it in place (with the seal in it, oring in place.) And the blasted o-ring kept squeezing out when I screwed in the seal case. Yes I used the torque wrench, yes I had gasket sealer to hold it in place...
Maybe it was just me, I know that. But I think maybe the new guy bored this one out or something, idk.
Your assessment sounds correct. Someone bored the case too far oversize on Diameter for the Oring to do its job. There shouldn't be any more than a few thousandths or up to .005" difference in the SS sleeve Outer Diameter and the bored case diameter for the Oring to compress and seat properly.. I have a small vertical mill at home and tooled up to rework my own heads using the Oring method....The Tooling is set up for .005" clearance, so no way for the Oring to squeeze past the .0025" clearance between the Case Diameter and Sleeve. I put one in service about 3 years ago and it's still running fine. As with anything, quality control makes all the difference and often points out when tooling is getting worn out or someone just didn't align the head properly before machining it....Something I bet some of these small shops don't have. Unfortunately you get whatever they turn out!