Harmonic balancer bolt

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1987_chevy_

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How far in should the harmonic balancer bolt be screwed in? With my current engine build I have the big pulley on the balancer, the harmonic balancer, and then the bolt, so there is not much threads grabbing the crank. Any help would be nice!

And how do you guys crank over an engine without cranking on the harmonic balancer bolt?
 

74 Shortbed

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I made my own but you can get one of these..

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1987_chevy_

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Bolts on with the pulleys, use a long 1/2" ratchet or breaker bar.

so i would basically pull all the pulley bolts out and put that on and use that to crank it over? Im wondering if there is an easier way. Because i already have the pulley on and locite everything and everything is all set. i just wanna be able to turn the engine over when it sits during the winter. maybe once a month
 

74 Shortbed

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Well, just pull the bolts and put it on and re Loc-Tite them.:D
 

Daveo91Burb

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Be careful with that bolt! I broke the end of it off inside the crank when I was installing a new balancer on my '76 Corvette with the engine in the car. It looked to me like the balancer still had a long way to go so I kept turning - it was already bottomed. Not smart. Worked out well for me in the end though, since I got a complete rebuild out of the deal which is what I wanted to do all along. Anyway, looks can be deceiving - to me it looks like they're not on all the way when they really are.
 

1987_chevy_

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Be careful with that bolt! I broke the end of it off inside the crank when I was installing a new balancer on my '76 Corvette with the engine in the car. It looked to me like the balancer still had a long way to go so I kept turning - it was already bottomed. Not smart. Worked out well for me in the end though, since I got a complete rebuild out of the deal which is what I wanted to do all along. Anyway, looks can be deceiving - to me it looks like they're not on all the way when they really are.

I know my balancer is on all the way but I needed a way to crank the engine over, (so I used the bolt) I learned the hard way too! After installing the pulley on the balancer there is very little amount of threads grabbing the crank and I stripped out the bolt! I re tapped the crank (to clear out the metal from the bolt) and bought a longer bolt. But I want to make sure the bolt is in far enough in and it will bE alright!
 

74 Shortbed

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Dampeners are never flush with the crank when bottomed out, friend of mine didn't break the bolt but he wiped out the threads in a cast crank, had to bore and tap for an oversize bolt, that bolt is NOT meant to be used for rotating the motor, especially without taking the plugs out.
 

Mr Clean

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I agree with 74 Short bed. That bolt is not meant to be used to turn over the motor. Is the motor in the truck? You can turn it by hand with out the plugs in it. (or at least I can). They make a tool that you can turn the crank from the flex plate. It hooks on the the edge, and you just rotate the motor that way.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
 

The Struggle

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I stripped the threads in my new cast eagle crank over-tightening a new bolt with only about 4-5 threads deep. (Trying to set it to 60 lbs.) Re-tapped it a put an extra main cap ARP stud with blue Loctite in the nose and it worked out good. I'll for now on put a stud bolt instead of those $8 pulley bolts in my cranks from now on.
 

1987_chevy_

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I stripped the threads in my new cast eagle crank over-tightening a new bolt with only about 4-5 threads deep. (Trying to set it to 60 lbs.) Re-tapped it a put an extra main cap ARP stud with blue Loctite in the nose and it worked out good. I'll for now on put a stud bolt instead of those $8 pulley bolts in my cranks from now on.

So would it be better to go without a stud? I I have the new bolt in about 1/4 to 1/2 inch.
 

1987_chevy_

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I agree with 74 Short bed. That bolt is not meant to be used to turn over the motor. Is the motor in the truck? You can turn it by hand with out the plugs in it. (or at least I can). They make a tool that you can turn the crank from the flex plate. It hooks on the the edge, and you just rotate the motor that way.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

The motor has been being built so it's not in my truck! I do not have the flex plate eon, and I am not able to crank it by hand. I take the plugs out and all and it's not crankable by hand. What would you recommend me doing? Is about 1/4 to 1/2 of threads good enough? How else should I crank it?
 

74 Shortbed

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Put too flexplate bolts across from one another part ways in the crank and use a bar to turn it over.
 

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