Harmonic balancer and bolt

Discussion in 'Street/strip 400/430/455' started by black70buick, Sep 8, 2019.

  1. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    Some time ago I replaced the harmonic balancer because the crank pulley wobbled. The balancer was cracked. I puchased a good used balancer and all seemed fine for a while. This is no longer the case. I finally took a closer look at everything. The bolt itself is compromised. There are two chips in the threads and in general it looks like it was cross threaded. I checked the balancer and believe it is now compromized, but not cracked like the previous one but I assume the ID is our of round because it does have slop when pressed onto the crank. As far as I can tell the crank threads are fine, but I think the best course of action is to buy a new balancer, not rebuild this one and buy a new balance bolt. I would prefer a longer bolt to get more "bite" into some fresh thread.

    Who sells longer harmonic balancer bolts - is there even such a thing for these motors?

    Thanks,
    -Chad
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2019
  2. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    Arp has thousands of bolts in their catalog,..Fastenal can get you a grade 8 as well
     
  3. telriv

    telriv Founders Club Member

    A good hardware store will also have what you need.
     
  4. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

  5. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

  6. TABuickMike

    TABuickMike Michael Tomaszewski Jr

    TA 1108D Stock Balancer Bolt
    TA 1108W Balancer Washer (highly recommended as well)
     
    GS464 likes this.
  7. BQUICK

    BQUICK Gold Level Contributor

    Not an area to skimp on with a Chinese hardware store bolt......stock Buick balancers are not a press fit so they rely on the bolt more and 200 lb/ft of torque...than a lot of other motors.
    Does make it easy to remove...once you manage to get the bolt off....
     
  8. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    Need a front crank seal as well. Prefer not to use a rope seal. Anyone have PN and/or link handy?
     
  9. LARRY70GS

    LARRY70GS a.k.a. "THE WIZARD" Staff Member

  10. TABuickMike

    TABuickMike Michael Tomaszewski Jr

    TA 1514 - GM Cover
    TA 1514A - TA Cover
     
    GS464 and Dragdoc like this.
  11. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

  12. john.schaefer77

    john.schaefer77 Well-Known Member

  13. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    oh ok. I'll get bigger hammer then.
     
    john.schaefer77 likes this.
  14. TABuickMike

    TABuickMike Michael Tomaszewski Jr

    Stock timing covers need to be removed to install the new seal as they press in from the back. TA Timing covers have seals that are installed from the front.
     
    GS464 likes this.
  15. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    Welp. Got it all together with a longer bolt. Lasted about 5 minutes before the wobble started again. Hmm. The investigation continues. Will double check the balancer and maybe replace.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2019
  16. Schurkey

    Schurkey Silver Level contributor

    I'd be looking at the crank snout, too. Is the crank worn? Is the snout bent?
     
  17. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    That is my fear, I dont want to pull the engine. I've only looked at the front end of the crank, I did not measure with a micrometer. Visually there was no obvious distortion however, I am searching for another crank and thankfully my dad has a spare I could use in the mean time. I have another stock replacement balancer ordered. If this gets too $$$ that 455 just might be benched by an LS. Those LS are tempting for the price.
     
  18. 1969RIVI

    1969RIVI Well-Known Member

    Don't do it! Don't go to the dark LS side:p
     
  19. black70buick

    black70buick Well-Known Member

    New used balancer, new longer bolt, balancer still wobbles a bit. What has helped is cutting a flat washer to fit on the inside of the balancer since the balancer does not tighten flat against the edge of the crank snoot, and still use the concave thick balancer washer. I also added a bronze sleeve to keep all washers centered. I don't have another 455 near by to compare, but watching the GN crank pulley run smooth and straight and knowing that my 455 balancer can run smoth and straight during initial install. I still find the wobble a concern.
     
  20. hugger

    hugger Well-Known Member

    You have a crank issue, I'd pull the cover and check it with a caliper ,..and run out you'll need to pull the plugs to spin it well enough
     
    DasRottweiler likes this.

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