Recently got my motor back from the machine shop. Put everything back together. When torquing the bolts that attach the pully to the harmonic balancer, one of the bolts just keeps spinning. The threads in the balancer are cooked. I bought a new stock balancer from the machine shop that did the work. They said that changing the harmonic balancer could change the work they did balancing the motor.  Is this really going to affect the motor that much? Getting the old balanacer off is cake but what is the best method for putting the new one on without making things worse? These are the suggestions so far.

 1st Suggestion, use the center bolt and slowly screw it in until the balancer is on.

2nd Tap it on using a block of wood and a small hammer. This dosen't sound good to me.

 I've got to get this done tonight after work. Tomorrow I've got the guys coming over pop the motor in. Any help on the subject is greatly appreciated.

 

 

 I just replaced mine last month. I used a leaf spring center bolt 7/16 x 8in with a 7/16 deep nut your local spring shop will have them.They are harden bolts. Screw it into your cranckshaft all the way put some heavy flat washers under the deep nut and tighten, puts it your balancer no problem!

   Dave

If they engine was "balanced" using the stock dampner, then a replacement stock one should be fine.
Dave's method of installation is a new one, but it will work. That's a neat idea, Dave! There are specific installation tools for this, but if you're stuck...a block of wood and a rubber mallet have been used for years.(who, me? ) This can damage the main thrust bearing on the crank, if you go gonzo on it.

If the old balancer was stock and otherwise good, a new replacement should not create a balance problem.  If the old one was failing, what did the balance the crank with it anyway?  If you were trying to spin the engine at 6000 RPM for long periods, it may make a difference.  But in normal street driving, you will never notice it or have a problem.

Installed the new Harmonic balancer last night. Pep Boys had a puller that doubles as a press, at least thats how I used it. It went together in about ten minutes, no issues. We can drop the motor in  this next week, I have to be in San Diego in the morning for business until Sunday. Cant wait to get started , bought a new hoist and want try it out.

 As far as why they used that old balancer, they didn't realize that one of the three pully bolt holes was stripped. They felt bad about it and gave me a stock balancer, so it turned out well and saved me $69, all I lost was time. Thanks Dave, Ken and Joel. I always get the right help here with just enough smart ass humor to get me through the project.

Thank You, Andy

You are very welcome.

And I always felt a smart ass answer is far better than a dumb ass answer!