Thread: this look right?

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As to the crank, drilling and tapping would be my choice, like others have stated. The early cranks, pre-70, if memory serves right, did not have the tapped snout, and the procedure laid out in the factory manuals was to simply drive the balancer/dampener onto the crank nose using a lead mallet. Since not everyone has access to a lead mallet, a block of wood and a big hammer were most often substituted, and a bazillion of them were done this way with no appreciable harm. I will say that I am no fan of banging on the front end (or rear end, for that matter) of any crankshaft, and that must be a valid concern, because Chevy did finally add threads and a retaining bolt to the things, and life for an engine builder of Chevys has been so much nicer, since, with the use of a balancer/dampener remover, and an installer.

Across the internet, you can see the answers to damper removal/install raging from one extreme to another. Bang it on, don't bang it on, boil the damper, don't boil the damper, freeze the crank snout, don't freeze the crank snout, banging on the crank won't hurt the thrust bearing, banging on the crank will destroy the thrust bearing.

When I was building a 455 Olds years ago, I was on the phone talking to Joe Mondello about the build procedure. Joe said to put a block of wood on the crank snout and really bang hell out of the crank, then go around back, put the block of wood on the end of the crank and really bang hell out of it. He explained that was the way he had seated thrust bearings for decades and never had a problem. Therefore, when a fellow of Joe's stature and experience tells you to bang on the crank, you bang on the crank.

Now, it stands to reason that if you add a little help with your banging, it should be all the better. Drop the damper into a pan of water on the stove and bring it to a boil. The damper is going to see this environment sooner or later if a radiator failure occurs, so I can't see it doing any harm for the install. Anyway, when you heat the damper, the I.D. of the crank bore opens up a little, making it a little bigger. Now, at the same time, if you put some crushed dry ice in a baggie and wrap it around the crank snout, it will reduce the diameter of the crank snout slightly. When the damper is hot and the snout is cold, place the damper on the snout and bang away at the center of it with a piece of pipe and a block of wood. You only want to hit the damper in the middle, not on the edge. The inertia ring around the outside of the damper is molded onto the inner hub of the damper with a thin ring of elastomeric material that you can destroy if you bang on the inertia ring of the damper, so hit it only on the main hub part of the damper.

By the way, is you want to start this build off properly, send your damper back to these guys to be rebuilt before you start. Then follow the procedure I have outlined here to find TDC and coordinate it with the damper and timing mark on the front cover.
http://www.damperdoctor.com/Merchant...egory_Code=CHE
http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/w...op_dead_center

The damper bore and the crank O.D. are closely machined to produce this closely matched press fit that will make everything work. That's why I like to use a factory damper and have Damper Doctors replace the elastomeric material and properly clock the inertia ring to the hub. When you buy some of these offshore dampers, the hub bore is not machined correctly for the press fit that the hub needs. If the hub isn't press-fitted to the snout, then harmonics cannot be properly transferred from the crank to the damper hub and then on to the inertia ring to be dampened. So, if it's too loose, it won't do the job properly. If it's too tight, you'll never get it on. By using an OEM damper and having it rebuilt, you are positive that that particular damper was once pressed onto a crankshaft at the factory, unlike not knowing anything about an aftermarket damper.

And for you other fellows out there who have drilled and tapped dampers. Don't even think about using the retention bolt to install the damper. You will not have enough threads engaged and you'll pull the threads out of the crank snout. Then you'll have to make a couple of fixtures to re-drill larger and re-tap larger (1/2"-20). Use an installation tool. You can rent them from your local auto parts store if you don't want to buy one. Use Scotchbrite pads to de-burr the crank snout and inside diameter of the damper hub before you begin installation. Boil the damper, wrap the crank snout with dry ice, oil the snout and use the install tool if the crank is threaded, use a piece of tubing, block of wood and a BFH to drive it onto the snout if the crank ain't drilled and tapped. If you heat the damper and freeze the crank, it'll go on pretty easy. You just want to hold it into place until the two components equalize their temps and you're good to go.

As far as re-drilling and re-tapping, you will want to use a locating bushing for each operation. The would be a bushing that locates onto the O.D. of the crank snout and has a hole in the middle of it to just allow a drill bit room to slide into the bushing and cut a straight hole into the crank snout. It will take one bushing for the drill bit and another bushing for the tap to ride in and get started straight into the hole. I have seen on other forums that most fellows who have access to a lathe will go ahead and make their own bushings. I have not looked for them commercially, but I would think somebody makes them.

I hope this helps some of you fellows out there who are confused about what to do.

i throw them up on my mill and drill them if you have a big drill press to can do that to if you do not pay some one that has by the time you buy the stuff to do the job .it will be cheaper to pay to have it done you will need two taps starter and bottom tap .a driver . and the right drill for the tap . you can make a bushing but then you need a good hand drill and a way to hold the crank or you will chasing the crank allover .i never call old joe but thats the way we did it way back when

so drill and tap it for a bold or not? i have access to all that is needed to drill and tap the crank, but if it doesnt need to be done ill be a bit happier. as for whats going into the motor ill give you the info i have and see what you guys suggest for a cam.

ill start from the oil pan. closest number i came up with for a CR was like 8:1 but that was just guestimating what the pistons were as far as cc wise.

stock oil pan, has to be in order to fit in the car, may even need to be notched a tad.
new stock oil pump, that should be more than enough right?
stock crank
new main and rod bearings.
ARP hardware will be used for the rods and crank.
stock rods and pistons.
new rings
stock heads. 3947041 1.94 intake 1.5 exhaust 64cc
most likely will be running HEI distributor
not sure what to do for cam and intake manifold.
topped with a carter AFB 650

there will be a T56 tranny behind this beast, although i still dont know which of the two will mate to the SBC.
whenever necessary ill use ARP hardware. is there a list somewhere of what would be beneficial to replace with ARP studs?

i think i said i would drill and tap it but i am not you .other have said they have drill and tap them as well

ditto I rebuilt the 283 in my dad's 1966 el camino. It too had the press on damper. I drilled and tapped. I heard from my uncle ( used to stock car race in the 60's in Ca) that gm used to beat those on at the factory with a steel malet. He said that it was hard on the thrust bearings.
BTW- kudos to you for building a piece of real gm history. Any shmo can build a high torque/hp 383.

Originally Posted by flanker1970

ditto I rebuilt the 283 in my dad's 1966 el camino. It too had the press on damper. I drilled and tapped. I heard from my uncle ( used to stock car race in the 60's in Ca) that gm used to beat those on at the factory with a steel malet. He said that it was hard on the thrust bearings.
BTW- kudos to you for building a piece of real gm history. Any shmo can build a high torque/hp 383.

well now that you got that out of the way. you have much Hate for them 496 guys yep beat the hell out of the outer ring when they could not hit the center of the damper or was past the five beer rule for building a chevy a engine flanker how the hell are you

Having worked at the GM Powertrain Flint V8 Engine Plant (formerly Chevrolet Flint Engine and a few other titles) for nearly 34 years and working on the assembly line for a good part of that time I can attest to the fact that Harmonic balancers were frequently driven on with a large plastic mallet. On the assembly line a pneumatic tool was used, but any time an engine needed re-work or repair requiring removal of the balancer, it was driven back on. I've done so probably hundreds of times. As was mentioned though, care must be taken to only strike in the center--not on the rim.

i read an old service manual about the balancer on the old 283 it said to drive it on with a hammer and block of wood . seems a bit archaic, but prolly state of the art for the time.

You have to ask why did the motor not have a dampner??????

A: it was sold at a swap meet
B:it was sold on E-bay
C:it came off because of no bolt and the engine was junked(probably with a broken crank)