TurboM3

I was trying to remove my harmonic balancer on my 305 using a standard HB puller and the freaking center screw on the puller is now stuck.

The friggin thing was turning forever until I finally decided something wasn't quite right because it should only be able to go an inch or so in there. Right now it's maybe 2 to 3 inches in there and wont come out for sh**t.

Does anyone have any advice?

Apeiron

How is it stuck? There's nothing on the forcing screw that should go in to the crank at all.

car_fixer

you used too small of an end on it and now it is threaded into the crank snout, if you cant back it out, your in trouble. Get some good penatrateing lube, and soak it, take the bolts out of the balancer and if possible remove the flange, then try turning it, if you get it out, the threads will be ruined, on both pieces. if it wont turn out, you can try pulling it out, but I doubt that will work, the only real choice you would have is to cut it off, and drill it out, but thats not a task for the faint of heart. Good luck with that.

AlkyIROC

You never stick the tapered end into the balancer bolt hole.

You remove the balancer bolt and washer then reinstall the bolt. Use the puller to push against the bolt and you'll never ruin the threads in the crank.

car_fixer

well really, buy a better puller, its cheaper than a crank lol, but shouldnt we be helping with the current problem, prevention would have helped before lol
this puller uses correctly sized inserts threaded into the crank and has a bearing to reduce friction when pulling or installing a balancer
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...4&autoview=sku

Damon

The balancer puller should have come with a couple different clip-on end pieces so that the end of the big screw doesn't try to thread itself into the crank snout.

Apeiron

The inserts and bearing are only used when installing the balancer.

TurboM3

well i'll bet i trashed the crank or something i think it might be time to go ahead and drop a 383 in it.

jtrescot

The worst thing it would do to the crank is nothing that a Helicoil won't fix.

TurboM3

Yeah I understand it wouldn't be THAT big of a deal to repair..but to be perfectly honest here I just don't think the 305 is worth my time.

I already had plans to drop in a 383 and those plans got kicked into overdrive after I found out a few days ago that this "350" as the seller claimed is actually a 305 (just bought the car about a week ago).

You can't even imagine the sh*tstorm I was cussing up after I saw 305 cast into the bottom of the block the other day. I pulled the oilpan off and looked up the casting numbers on the pistons and sure enough its all stock.

So it looks like I'll be off to a junkyard this weekend in search of a worthy 350 candidate to stroke and pop a cam in.

car_fixer

wrong, the tool I showed there has an insert that is threaded on to the forcing shaft, then the forcing nut is threaded all the way down, the pulling flange with the sweet bearing is bolted to the balancer, then the nut is used to force the balancer off, maybe more than one person around here needs to read instructions sometime.

Apeiron

I read the instructions, they need to be thrown out. A sane person wouldn't thread an insert in to pull a balancer, they'd turn the tool around so the pointed end was pushing against the chamfer in the crank snout.

Damon

The insert that CLIPS on the end of the main bolt serves 2 purposes- to give a nice, solid surface to push against AND to allow the center shaft to rotate without gouging the snout of the crank or bolt head (the insert stays stationary on the crank snout and the main bolt rotates inside it) . I could post a pic of mine, if you like. They came with the tool and their purpose is fairly self-explanatory.

car_fixer

first he said he read them and didnt want to use a open end wrench between the 3 bolts, which I guess somebody didnt realize the nut is reversible...now hes changed it lol, I have seen alot of cranks over the years that have rolled threads at the front of the crank snout from improperly fitting and or used tools, so I am suggesting the way to do it with the least chance of damage, but I also realize that some people can foul it up anyway lol

Apeiron

The first time I looked at the diagrams I didn't realize that the nut would go through the hole on the pulling plate. It became obvious after a minute, though.

I still think that threading anything into the crank actually provides the greatest chance for damage. A conventional puller has a pointed end that mates perfectly with the chamfer on the crank snout, so there's no chance of damaging the threads, since there's no force put on them at any time. There's no need for a bearing at all with that setup, since the pulling plate itself is the nut so nothing turns against it. The Proform tool used as a "universal puller" without the threaded insert isn't bad (certainly not as bad as I first thought, anyway), it just fixes a problem that doesn't exist. As an installer it would be fine.

Vader

You could retap the crank 1/2-20 with no problelm. Or, build an entire other engine in a hurry while your current engine is out of commission.

TurboM3

Thanks Vader I'm going to try and retap it. Would it be better to use a helicoil?

I got it out of there and there are actually still some threads left but they're too stripped to tighten down good.

One question how much do I need to torque down that bolt I'm sure it's going to be quite a bit. Also is it reverse thread or normal?

car_fixer

It is right hand thread, and i would just tap it to 1/2 - 20 mr garbage or somebody used to sell a bolt and washer in that size, as for torque pretty tight, but i dont remember the exact spec.

TurboM3

Cool I shouldn't have any problem getting a bolt & washer from lowes, home depot or fastenal.

I was looking at this which includes a "1/2-20 NF" tap & die does anyone know what the "NF" designation means? or if it matters?

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...380&lpage=none


That or I wonder if I could get away without a bolt on there for a few weeks because I'll be dropping a 383 in it within the next month anyways. (suprisingly there wasnt one on there to begin with but not sure how much the car was driven)

In any event it took me several good wacks with a 5 lb mallet to get the harmonic balancer back on so I don't think its coming off anytime soon.

Apeiron

NF is "National Fine", as opposed to "National Coarse" which would be 1/2-13.

TurboM3

Thanks I got it re-tapped. I did it with the engine in the car and I think its actually a little crooked which worried me considering its rotational mass but it runs just fine. I only need it to hold up for a few weeks anyways

Hemispheres

Sorry to revive an old thread but don't feel bad OP, I did a google search after doing the same ****ing thing and now I've got a buddy on the way out to remove the conical end and repair the threads.

I feel like goddamn idiot =\