You need a special puller to remove the balancer. It is designed to screw into the same bolt holes that retain the pulleys, after you remove all the bolts.
While you have it apart you should probably R&R the seal where the balancer pokes through the timing chain cover.
You need to find an extra long bolt or piece of all thread rod, a hex nut and some fat washers to install the new one. I know some guys beat it on with a hammer, but that gives me the fan-tods.

 

And that special puller can usually be rented from an auto parts retailer.

 

You also need an installation tool to install the harmonic balancer. Do not use the retaining bolt to pull it on, you run the risk of stripping the threads in the nose of the crank. If you strip the threads, you're SOL.

Pete

 

Hi guys,
thanks so much for all your advice!

I have a puller and the special tool to push the new balancer back in place. So, it should work out well.

I heard from a friend, the originalbalancer might "stick" pretty much on the crankshaft... so it might not come off that easy... even with the puller.

Can anyone comment that... any experience!?!

Thanks again!!!

Cheers...
René

 

They are correct it will not come off easy if its never been off. This is the time if you are ever going to do upgrades to do them. Cam, timing chain, electric fan so on. All the front end pulleys,fans radiator shroud and radiator have to come out to do the balancer. Good luck!

 

Rene,
Before you pull off the balancer, remove the fan and fan clutch and run the engine. I had this same issue with my '69 and it was a bad fan clutch. Put on a replacement while the original was being rebuilt and all was good. Just another thing to check.
Jeff

 

All,
thanks so much for all the various comments and recommendations.

I will replace all teh belts anyway so I also will check step by step if anything changes when I run the engine without the fan (short time of course).

Hopefully I can avoid to replace the balancer... but if it is damaged I have to... But, even if it was never removed... I mean... there is nothing else I can do but use the puller and... turn the wrench until the balancer comes off!?!

Another question... I was offered a fluid balancer. Any experiences/recommendations regarding that one... compared with the original balancer!?!

Thanks again folks!!!

Cheers...
René

 

Today I took out the belts and the pulleys. Guess what I found between the crank pulley and the balancer? There is/was a 10" long piece of belt... caught some time between the pulley and the balancer. It was sticking out in between the pulley and the balancer... so could this piece have somehow "blocked" the balancer from working properly and ultimately caused the vibrations? The balancer itself looks great... the rubber between the core and the outer ring is like new!
I will install all parts back on Saturday and let the engine run (I will try without the fan first to see if the fan clutch makes a difference as well).

I will keep you updated on the results.

Keep the fingers crossed, that the vibrations are gone!!!

Cheers...
René

 

wow i hope that was it!the work that goes into hunting down the cause of vibrations is unreal.good luck,i mean break a leg.

 

I cant tell if this is sarcasm of what but they certianly do make internally balanced 383 crankshafts.... Scat and eagle offer them for about the same price as a regular 350 shaft...

 

Hi folks,
today I reassembled the entire pulley-belt-fan stuff after I had removed all debris from the parts an cleaned them.

Well... the vibrations are still there!

I do not know if the balancer has suffered from the piece of belt that has been stuck in there for 20 years. Perhaps it will getter after a while of driving when everything gets smoother under the increased temperatures. If this does not change I probably have to replace the balancer and see if the vibrations will go away. If they should be still present with the new balancer I could only think of the flywheel or the clutch.

Any other ideas?

Cheers...
René

P. S.: One of my buddies told me it could also be an ignition problem... but I do not have misfire or anything else that could indicate an issue with the ignition system.

 

Hi guys,
the crazy German again.

Well, I did a lot of investigation over the last days... checked the carburetor (Edelbrock) air-gas-mixture... idle... and then the ignition system and timing. Well... what should I say... except for a little too rich idle mixture which I corrected and the vacuum advance which I moved from the manifold vacuum (which I guess is wrong) to the timed/ported vacuum (which should be the right one) the timing is absolutely correct... 8° advanced (@800 rpm without vacuum).

Now... another Corvette expert told me, that sometimes the exhaust exhaust pipes (2.5") create/transmit vibrations and booming via the exhaust center hanger. This guy told me to remove the exhaust center hanger... and... the vibrations are still there. However, they seem to be less intense.
Now... it seems that the next step would be to check clutch and flywheel!

Any other great ideas from "Corvette Country"... to help a crazy german Corvette Freak!?!?!

Thanks so much!

Cheers...
René

P. S.: Even if it should be very unlikely... is there any possibility to check if the engine is NO Stroker (I believe it is the standard engine because of most original parts such as the balancer... cylinder heads...) I am just asking because some guys mentioned it could be a Stroker with wrong components).

 

I have a question, just to clarify something. Does the vibration occur when the vehicle is being driven, or does it also occur when you rev the engine in neutral? Does throttle position make any difference? Or load? Try advancing the timing 2-4 degrees, and see what happens. Also, how can you stand to drive a non-overdrive 'vette on your nation's Autobahn? When I was a young soldier, stationed in Germany, 3 friends and I chipped in and rented a Porsche for a weekend. We took turns driving that car like we stole it on the Autobahn. Ahhh, good times!

Scott

 

Hi Scott,
thanks for your reply!

The vibration is rpm-related only... manual transmission in "neutral"... foot on the pedal... increase revs... vibrations starting around 1500... getting stronger with increasing revs and seem to disappear above 3000.
You also feel the vibrations while driving but it is not so obvious... due to other road noise etc.

Well, advancing the timing...hmmm... ok... can try that!

Oh, you have been in Germany? Where were you stationed?

Well... my Corvette is a vintage car... and I typically try to use scenic roads rather then the Autobahn... but I did 200mph with a C5 some years ago!

René

 

Spent a year and a half in Baumholder, back in '85-'87, before The Wall came down. People were very nice to me there. Great beer, great food, great people, great culture...and drop-dead gorgeous women!. I only had two complaints about Germany; The weather, and once you've seen one 500 year old castle, you've pretty much seen them all.

Scott

Scott

 

I see. Glad your time over here was not too bad!

In fact, I have friends and family living in the southwest of the US. So almost every second year we do rental car tours for some weeks. Last year we did 5000 miles in three weeks... San Francisco to Seattle... to Yellowstone... to Salt Lake City and back to San Francisco... just to give you an impression...

Ok... I will keep searching for the root cause of the vibrations on my Corvette... honestly... it is pretty annoying... even if it is not too strong... I know it is there... and that sucks!

René

 

Yeah, the U.S.A is a fairly big country, area-wise. (It probably feels even bigger with a 65-mile-per-hour speed limit, eh?)There are a lot of pretty cool things to see here. (Mostly in the left and right sides, just a buncha corn and soybeans in the middle.) You've probably seen more of my country than I have!

Scott

 

Well... at least I did a lost 15.000 miles already through the southwest and west. Absolutely open range countryside... nothing you can see in Europe.

My wife and I love the nature... desert, canyons, forest... pure nature!

Ok... have a nice weekend and I will see how I can make progress regarding the vibration issue!

Cheers...
René

 

I had vibration problem around 2000 rpm up to maybe 3500 rpm caused by cracked bell housing (auto transmission). Check your bell housing and bell housing bolts.

Roger

 

Hi folks... the Crazy German again...

Well, you might remember my thread regarding the vibrations!?!

Today I really feel like an "Idiot"...

At the time when I detected the vibrations I instantly thought the engine- and transmission-mounts were worn out. However, the "US-Car-Expert" who reworked the transmission and the differential told me that he had checked all three mounts and that all were ok!

Now, after months of annoying investigations another buddy of mine (working on Corvettes for over 30 years) checked the mounts again... and... guess what... the damned mounts are completely worn out... of course... as I originally thought... but believed the "US-Car-Expert".

This is why I feel like an "Idiot" right now... bothering people with questions and threads... just to find out that the root cause was what I already anticipated long time ago.

However, I need a recommendation...

I have seen mounts from various suppliers... all "just junk"... engine mounts did not fit... transmission mount with solid rubber block... hard like wood.

Do you have any recommendations which mounts (200HP base engine with 4-speed manual Muncie transmission) I should use and where I can buy them? I do not want any "performance" parts... just simple comfortable "original stock" quality!

Thanks again for your patience and help!!!

Cheers...
René