The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Putting Harmonic Balancer on?

Looking for suggestions to replace the harmonic balancer without a threaded shaft. I watched YouTube but I don’t want to use fire to heat it.
Maybe wrap a cargo strap around the engine and clamp it up (the motor is still on the crate)?

Just drill and tap the crankshaft for a 7/16-20 bolt and use a balancer installation tool. Most FLAPS will rent you one. I used to make a fixture to center the drill bit and tap accurately and install balancers, until it became obvious that most people couldn't follow the simple printed instructions I provided with the kit.
Jerry

Thanks Jerry, I’m too uncomfortable to do that myself. I will read your instructions though if I can find them.

I made and sold several of those kits before an overly zealous moderator accused me of profiting from the website, even though I was barely breaking even on the materials of the kit, let alone the machining labor involved. I got disgusted by his arrogance and quit offering to help. Try posting a request in the "tools" forum- - - -some of the oldtime members might be willing to loan you the tooling and instructions.
Jerry

Edit: The simple way to do the installation is to stand the engine up on the flywheel and use a BFH and a big socket to drive the balancer on- - - -no heat involved. That prevents any damage to the thrust flange on the #3 main bearing.

I just put mine on 3 days ago. I removed the grill, radiator and fan, I heated it up in the oven at 200 degrees, then I placed it on the crank and started pounding it on straight with a rubber sledge hammer, then after it got it started straight I took a metal 5' digging bar and placed it with one end against the harmonic balancer and the other end going through the grill area then I had my wife hold the end of the digging bar against the harmonic balancer while I hit the other end with a sledge hammer the balancer was seated all the way in.

Only reason why I used the digging bar is because there is not much room to hit that balancer with sledge hammer while the radiator support is in. The digging bar went through the radiator support area allowing me more room to swing a hammer

also don't hit the outer rubber area. just hit the inner metal ring. Put something over the metal part of the balancer to protect it from damage

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.

Wow! Thanks for all that good advice.
I got it on as described with heat & wood & a mallet.
It bottomed out. I viewed before removing pictures, that helped a lot. If it goes on any further it will be rubbing the cover. The shaft was never to the end of the HB. I also tried to keep the wood in the center section.
I’ll post a picture & hope I didn’t screwdriver something up!

A much simpler way to keep the strain off the thrust bearing flange with the engine in the vehicle is to drive a hardwood wedge between the clutch pressure plate and the back of the bell housing to push the crank forward a little before wailing away on the balancer with your BFH. Being too timid to try to drill and tap the crankshaft snout creates a lot of unnecessary work!
Jerry

An even simpler method is mine: Get Jerry to come to your garage to tap and drill your crankshaft while you watch.

I will readily admit to being timid when it comes to drilling holes in a crankshaft. But all kidding aside, drilling and tapping the crank snout and then using the bolt as Jerry describes made installing the HB super easy. I don't know about anyone else, and Heaven knows I enjoy using the BFH as much as anyone, but I was about $4,000 into the rebuild at that point and the thought of whaling the daylights out of it with the BFH (or the BRH -- Big Rubber Hammer) .... Well, I had a minimum of enthusiasm for that approach

With the cost of machine work and parts these days, it just does not pay to hammer a balancer on. There are two versions of the tool to drill and tap the crank that are readily available for us home builder guys.


https://mrhotrod6.com/products/235-...-tap-fixture-tool-kit?variant=1142530609


https://www.12bolt.com/store/p164/C...83-327-250-235-261-230-215-194-Tool.html

A drilled and tapped crank snout makes things soooo much easier.

Lots of small blocks had the hammer treatment as well!

There is no need to discuss this any further. The OP has installed his harmonic balancer so this thread is locked.