I've read everything I could find in the previous posts on this site, but there doesn't seem to be a definitive answer. Some threads lead me to believe one thing, then the next one seems to end saying something else.

If I use 140W gear oil in my transmission and rear end, is it definitely going to leak, or is this on a car to car basis, depending on the condition of the seals?
I intend to drive my car quite a bit and possibly in colder weather (nothing below 40 degrees, I'm near Nashville, TN)

Thanks,
Brandon

There are no seals in the transmission so it might tend to leak some. The front and rear mains on the engine don't have seals either and you will probably get a few leaks from those areas as well. Hey, it's an old Chevy and because of the technology back then they tend to leak a little from time to time.

Mine leaks too and most ugly problem is, the tranny leaks at rear end and from there the differential gets overfilled and the oil will go into the left and right side of the axle, and if the seals there are bad, it will come out inside the brake drum. There is a kind of "cup" inside the brake drum to keep the oil away fom the brake linings, but this does not work perfect. Take away one of the rear wheels and you will see a hole where the oil should come out. If it works you will have an oily tire all the time, not nice too.

I did change to SAE 250 gear oil and it helps a bit, but for safety I check the oil level in differential after each longer driveout and most of the checks it is too much inside and its coming out after opening the filler plug, and in conclusion some is missing in the transmission.

As Junkyard dog posted, it is an old car and not all things can work as perfect as on today cars. It will not be possible to find perfect solutions for all problems. It is just necessary to arrange with that problems without getting frustrated.
I guess, in USA a car is "she" (female). in germany it is "it" (just a thing) and you know a woman needs attention all the time...

Your water-pump-problem: You know there is a grease cup (on left side of the engine) to lube the axle shaft of the water pump. If the car was stored for decades without driving, the grease might be dry and hard. Fill it with fresh grease and tighten the nut as described in the manual, maybe it helps.
There is a topic here in chatterII about 1931 water pump problems too.

You got the advice, you should do a complete service before driving a long time garaged car, do it as you can see in the manual, otherwise a lot of not funny surprises might follow.
Again: Buy the manual (I bought and did study it before buying the car), it will help you a lot to understand the car.

Stefan

Mine doesn't leak much and for that I consider myself lucky. On the other hand, if it didn't leak I would wonder if something was wrong with it. I tell people it's a Chevy, it's supposed to leak oil.

When I first replaced all the fluids in my 29 I asked the Napa guy if they could get 600W gear oil(as my original manual specified), he laughed and said that is basically grease. I used the thickest oil they stocked and had several puddles in the garage. After doing a bit of research I found Mobil 600W Super Cylinder Oil. None of the local parts stores could order it but the feed mill in town said they would order it for me. It was not available in anything smaller than a 5 gallon pail, but only cost about $60 for the whole pail. It has been about 5 months and 400 miles of driving since and leaks much less. I still have a small puddle where the speedo cable screws to the tranny, but no other puddles under the tranny , and none under the rear end either. The only challenge is getting the oil out of the bucket and into your car, I'm not sure the proper name for it, but I used a tool that looks kinda like a grease gun but works like a syringe. On a related note, is there supposed to be a gasket in the fitting between the trans and the speedo cable?

You can make a felt seal from some thick felt material. It should look like a donut. If you can find thick enough felt use multi-layers. All that is necessary is to fill most of the space where the cable screws to the gear shaft on the u-joint housing.

hey 131
i had the same problem on my 30 with the speedo cable leaking where it comes out of the trans. i used a piece of leather belt about 3/16 thick and cut a small hole for the speedo cable. my leak slowed to almost nothing. i`m using the 600w oil from the filling station.

The Filling Station also sells 600W for old car applications. The NAPA dude was incorrect about 600W being basically like grease since 600W is the same as the modern 160W.

My observations on 600W:

My 28 had the wrong lube in the drivetrain. Previous owner had used modern gear lube of some unknown viscosity. i went out and purchased Lubriplate SPO299, 600W. It is unlike any gear lube I have ever used. It is stickier than honey and i have to degrease (with solvent) anything it touches. I drained the drivetrain and refilled with the good stuff. 3 weeks later my clutch blew and I had to remove the transmission. to make along story short, I had to drain the transmission so as not to get bathed in said goop. I noticed that the 600W had mixed with the residue and was no longer as sticky, but was quite close to the original viscosity. My conclusion is that you can't use the modern equivalent so to speak. they are different. i have also observed that the transmission is not leaking as much any more. Here is a link to the specs: http://www.lubriplate/pdf/pds/6_4%20SPO%20Series.pdf

And to compare this to grease is laughable. Grease is rated differently. i just purchased some cornhead grease which is the softest grease you can buy with an NLGI of 0, and it is not pourable. It is definitely no gear lube (in the context used here). For reference, the NLGI scale is from 0-4, where 0 is the softest and 4 the hardest. Cornhead is a 0, regular chassis or bearing grease is around a 2 and our favorite water pump grease form Lubriplate is a 4.

I purchased 600W from Classi-Tique Products in Buffalo, New York that special made this product back in the 1970's and 1980's. The 600W that I purchased from them was very, very sticky as you describe and once it sticks to a gear it takes a lot of cleaning to get it off. I found this product to be great stuff!

Also, regarding the viscosity, supposedly the 600W is the same viscosity as modern 160W. As the story goes, back around 1932 or so, the terminology was changed from 600W to 160W but the viscosity apparently remained the same.