I'm in the middle of a frame off restoration of my 75 convertible. I pulled the engine and discovered the harmonic balancer had separated. I contacted several of the usual corvette parts suppliers and found that the reproduction part was back ordered or no longer offered. The back ordered part was $135.00. I heard about a used one at a local Corvette supplier so my wife went and picked it up. When she got home I couldn’t believe that the guy had the nerve to sell it. It was obviously beaten with a hammer; I wasn’t about to put it on my engine.
The machinist rebuilding my engine told me about a place called Damper Dudes in Redding, CA. that rebuilds harmonic balancers. I called them and got an estimate of $53.00. I was skeptical but I didn’t have anything to lose. I packaged it up and sent it off. The next day they called me and told me they received my balancer and would be able to machine it and ship it out the same day. I was shocked and still a little skeptical. Two days later the box arrived at my house. Much to my surprise it was my balancer looking new! They did an outstanding job of rebuilding the balancer and it looked original! They ensure me that the compound used to attach the outer ring to the hub is much stronger and reliable than the original material. It will definitely meet NCRS standards. Kudos to Damper Dudes! They were definately concerned about originality and customer service. Oh yeah, the final cost with shipping was $57.83.
Location: Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of the ones who are doing it.
That's cool. I called a couple of places in Hemming's about damper rebuild a while back and it was considerably more expensive than that. They told me that most of their business was rebuilding oddball dampers that aren't repopped, like Corvair's.
I ended up buying a barely used ATI 7" (most big block dampers are 8", except 427 and 396) damper at a swap meet and painted it orange. It looks original at a glance but wouldn't fool a judge. At least I know the outer ring will never slip or come off of this baby!
Do you have a website or phone number for Damper Dudes.
The balancer for my 1960 fuelie has been through an engine fire, definately want to have it looked at and rebuilt.
Hey, thanks John!!!!!
Brought the body to my 1960 home a few weeks ago and now will spend the warmer months rebuilding, restoring, rechroming, repairing etc. Hope to have most of the pieces ready when it is painted next year. Shooting for the NCRS Regional in St. Louis, June 2007.
John- Thanks for posting their address and phone number. I wanted to do it but I didn't know if it would violate the forums policies.
I have run into a few ripoff artists since I started the restoration. So I decided to notify as many people as I can when I have good experiences. It's nice to encounter those people and businesses that understand what quality and customer service truly mean. The Damper Dudes set the standard as far as I'm concerned. I also had a great experience with the local company that rebuilt my radiator.
Corvette Store
Harmonic Balancer Rebuilding/Replacement Suggestion
