L-82kid

I have an L-82 with an 8" harmonic balancer and have a problem with clearance between the timing chain cover and balancer. The person who owned the car before me put on a chrome timing chain cover. I just rebuilt my engine and kept the chrome cover on. When i installed the harmonic balancer there was almost no clearance at all between the cover and rubber spacer in the balancer. Also when I first removed the balancer, before the rebuild, I noticed that the bolt holding the balancer on wasn't tight. Did L-82s have a special timing cover for the bigger harmonic balancer? Is there something I can do to fix this problem without pulling the cover and oil pan off again?

Thanks,
Kevin

sb69coupe

Balancers and timing covers are a matched set. The TDC timing mark on the balancer is indexed to be used with a specific timing tab on the timing chain cover. If you have an aftermarket timing chain cover with the tab in a non-factory location, you'll have to install a timing tape on the balancer in order to time the engine.

I'm not clear on the problem with the balancer to timing cover interference. Are you saying that the back side of the balancer is rubbing against the timing chain? The rubber "spacer" should not be protruding from the balancer at all, it should be flush with the metal surfaces. There is not much oom between the balancer and timing cover in a stock setup.

The bolt holding the balancer on should be tightened to the specified torque value, I think it's 60 ft-lbs but check the manual to be sure.

GTR1999

Shannon I can shed somelight on the problem. The car had an aftermarket chrome cover on it when we got it. We decided to keep it on. When the balancer was installed(using the correct tool) it bottomed out very, very close to the timing cover. The rubber ring is tight and we have already degreed the cam and verified TDC and the timing tab lines up fine. I believe the 8" dampner is the original and don't know if the l-82 had any special dampner or cover for this problem? I can rotate the crank without hearing any rubbing but it's only a few thousands away. The rubber is not flush with the back of the balancer,it slightly sticks out. The depth of the blancer is 1.5" plus about a .125 inch lip at the rubber ring so it's close to 1.6125-1.750 thick. Compared to a stock crate 350 with a 1.125" thick balancer.
Thanks,
Gary


[Modified by gtr1999, 3:50 PM 8/14/2003]