Here is my suggestion and what works for me.
Step 1, glue the front cover gasket to the cover itself, bolt it to the engine snug and let the sealer cure. You want it to lay flat with no lumps from sealer.
Step 2, Make a line on the outer portion of the balancer right at the keyway, you want to know where the keyway is when looking from above, it will speed up the install.
Put the new balancer in an oven at 200 to 240 degrees. Leave it for a hour or more to heat soak slowly.
DAMPER DUDES, guys I purchased a new one from, said 240* was OK.
Step 3, get a can of pressurized keyboard duster, or similar spray. When you hold them upside down, they will freeze what ever you spray them at.
Step 4, clean the crankshaft snout, remove any burrs, have keyway installed, and have the area clean with plenty of room to work around.
Step 5, Have a block of hardwood, a heavy hammer ( 3 to 5 lb ), and heavy gloves standing by.
Step 6, loosen the bolts of the front cover just enough so the cover can slide or wiggle around after the sealer has cured.
Step 7, When the balancer is up to temp, spray the can of duster on the snout of the crank to cool it off, keep spraying till it has frost on it or the can runs out,
Throw your gloves on and grab the balancer out of the oven as fast as possible and shove it on the crank being sure to align the keyway. If all goes right,
it might bottom out first try, if not, grab the wood and hammer and drive it on till it bottoms out. BE SURE TO ONLY HIT THE CENTER SECTION, NOT THE OUTER RING.
I have seen them bottom out while hot and also get stuck 3/4 of the way on.
Step 8, Tighten the cover bolts. Leaving them loose allows the crank seal to self center on the balancer. If you want sealer on the gasket, back off the bolts as far as you
can and poke sealer into the crank, then tighten bolts.
If all possible, turn the motor on end with crank sticking up using wood under the block to support it. Then use thinner wood to support the crank end, you want some of the block weight on the crank so when you drive the balancer on, the end of the crank is setting solid on the ground. Laying sideways, the #4 { edit or #3 } main bearing is going to take all the force of the hammer blows on the thrust bearing surface. It may not be a problem and lots of engines are done this way, but having the crank solid puts more force on the balancer which drives it on with fewer hammer blows.
My crank is drilled and tapped, but I still heat the balancer to install it, the bolt is only to hold it once installed. If you choose to use only the bolt to install, buy some threaded rod, bottom it out in the crank, then use greased washers and a nut to push it on. This keeps all the wear off the internal threads and moves it out to the threaded rod. If you can find a coupler nut, ( a 2" or longer nut ) that has the correct thread, you spread the load out on a lot longer section of the rod, being less likely to strip the rod.
Use plenty of grease or oil on the threads. The crank is going to try and turn, so figure a way to lock it in place using the threaded flange bolts on the other end. Also figure on the crank being just a bit longer than the balance, so have a washer big enough to go over the crankshaft end. You may not need it, but you have to be sure the balancer is bottomed out or the timing gear will walk and/or the belts won't align.
Last edited by Joe H; 10/03/2023 4:30 PM.
