I also believe there’s an issue with the instructions. My investigations show that the early seals had a wax coating on the lip to lubricate on start-up before the oil got to them.
The installation manual says NOT to lubricate the crank journal or the seal on installation. I believe this was because of the possibility of the oil contaminating the RTV silicone join holding the seal to the block.
Supposedly the new seals don’t have this coating and so NEED to have a thin film of oil between the crank journal and the seal so that when started the seal lip isn’t burned before it can get a supply of lubricating oil.
This may be exacerbated in my case by the fact that the engine has sat for about 10 months since assembly to first running.
I believe that the crank journal and seal SHOULD be carefully lubricated on assembly, contrary to what the Rover book says.
As for retaining screws to hold it into the block. Possibly a good idea if it can be done safely. Although mine’s definitely not leaking thanks to breather pressure… my breather hose is hanging free and is venting as it should… very few gases coming out of there at all so I’m picking that in my case the seal was either burned on start-up or not installed correctly (which would seem easy to do).
I welcome tips or photos on securing the seal to the block with screws… if you have any info, I’d be keen to find out.