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Following up on Tinman’s Javelin lower seal question, my ‘56 RD-18 came with the crappy lower seal and the double base gasket/stainless baffle plate. The powerhead was a total junker and I found a good RDE-18 powerhead with the improved lower crank seal. As Frank noted, I can’t see where the stainless baffle plate provides any real benefit so I’m thinking I will just install a new single base gasket and leave the baffle plate out. Thoughts on this? BTW, I think there was a thread on this baffle plate topic some time ago but can’t find it through the search feature.
I almost forgot about the baffle plate on the RD motors. Thinking back, I sort of think it was supposed to deflect the exhaust away from the shift linkage. Anyhoo, it probably will live without it, as long as the gasket alone is thick enough to provide space for the drive shaft height. Or of course you could leave the baffle in. But don’t try to take that thinking to the bank.