The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop I need help!!!!!!!!

My 1950 235 has a noise when engine is running. Upon further examination I noticed the belt is not in line in a good V shape.The water pump and and generator appear to be aligned but the balancer looks like it is pulled away from the crankshaft a little bit.I pulled on the balancer and it appears tight.Inside the balancer It looks like a bolt broke off in the center but I am not sure if it is a bolt?Anybody in Atlanta,GA can help?Or any input or pics of how far the harmonic balancer should be away from the crankshaft?

Hy toniphil123, Happy New Year, and welcome. Now to the alignment problem, if your generator and water pump pulley look like they are in line, then I would say that your balancer is moving away from the timing gear cover [it is still on the crankshaft] most of the early engines had a provision built into the front of the balancer that would allow the engine to be started by a hand crank, that may be what you are seeing, I'm not sure when they stopped equiping the balancer with that feature. The balancer is held in place on the crankshaft by a friction or interferance fit, no retaining bolt [although I do drill and tap all the rebuilds I do, to 7/16" N.F. thread so they will accept a balancer retaining bolt from a small block Chev V8]. If your balancer has moved out away from the timing gear cover, you could hammer it back into position [hitting only close to the center, there was a special tool for this job which held all parts of the balancer together while installing it], if it goes on too easily , then I would say it is worn in its bore. If it "walked" out once it will likely do it again. try putting it back into position and see how much force it takes to do that, hope that helps.

Thanks for the info! I tried beating on it with a hammer today and it did not budge!Should I keep beating a little harder?spray some lube?It is a 1954 235 engine

Does anybody know what year the quit using the hand crank pulley?

Hy toniphil123, there is a possibility that the balancer has moved out far enough that it is no longer alinged with the key in the crankshaft, it is unlikely but possible. Do you have a good straight on swing at the balancer? Maybe you should pull the balancer all the way off and make sure everything is lined up, and the key is in good condition before trying to re-install it, good luck

My guess would be 1953. My 1954 261 does not have the hand crank provision.They are press fit on,I used a 2x4 and a really heavy hammer to install mine.The experts will be here soon to reply.

My '55 2nd 235 still has the hand crank damper.

I would go with pulling it off and checking the key it won't take much for the key to jam and prevent it from going in also what you can do that i do is take a long framers square and place it on the balancer flush with the face and see just how far it is out you might just find you have a worn pulley that the belt is sitting to far down. Take a spare belt and flip it inside out and check your pulleys there should be a small space between them and the belt

My 1956 235 passenger don't have the hand crank provision either.Maybe it's an option,i'm sure someone will chime in.

I think that the provision for a hand-crank fitting was provided through 1953 (that grill assembly allowed the use of a hand crank). From 1954 onwards, I think that the 235 (and all 261) engines came with harmonic balancers with a flat front (no hand-crank fitting).

Of course, the harmonic balancers were/are interchangeable and might have been changed over the years. There was a hand crank support bracket that could be used through 1953.